Tamim Iqbal claims he was 'ashamed of himself' while watching Virat Kohli train

Bangladesh ODI captain Tamim Iqbal recently spoke about how he used to feel ashamed of not being able to match the fitness standards of Virat Kohli about 2-3 years ago, despite being the same age as the Indian cricket team captain.

During the ESPNcricinfo podcast with Sanjay Manjrekar, Tamim Iqbal revealed that he was left in awe of Kohli's dedication towards fitness and a healthy lifestyle.

"2-3 years back, when I sometimes used to see Virat Kohli doing all those gym things, running around, I honestly used to feel ashamed myself. A guy of my age is training so much despite attaining success whereas I am not even doing half of what he is doing," Tamim said.

Despite Tamim being the highest run-getter for the Bangladesh team in ODIs, he iterated that his focus was to follow Virat Kohli's path and reach 50-60% of the Indian captain's fitness levels.

Virat Kohli has changed the culture of the Indian team

Virat Kohli has arguably been the biggest driving factor behind the transformation of the fitness standards of world cricket and in particular, Indian cricket. After taking up the reins of the Indian cricket team, Virat Kohli has brought a complete overhaul in the fitness regime of the team. So much so that players have had to prove their fitness first, then their proficiency at the game.

“Indian Cricket’s change in approach towards fitness influenced Bangladesh Cricket the most. I have no shame to tell you this,” said Tamim.

Recently appointed as the captain of the Bangladesh team, Iqbal also said that the Indian cricket team has also influenced the way cricket has developed in Bangladesh.

“I think because India is our neighbor, we follow a lot of things about what's happening in India. As soon as India started to change regarding fitness, that impacted Bangladesh the most," Iqbal added.

Iqbal also lamented that the Bangladesh team took a long time to understand the importance of fitness and it has been only in the last 3-4 years that players have understood that they need to be fit enough, look good on TV and not have a big belly.