Virat Kohli sacrificed butter chicken and rolls to become top batsman, says coach

What’s the story?

An average Delhiite’s staple diet has a healthy dose of butter chicken and mutton rolls, with a little Rajma Chawal by the side, to fuel the body and please the mind. But, when the Delhiite is a top flight international cricketer, the liberty to go the whole hog isn’t the most encouraging thing to do. For India’s captain, Virat Kohli, a change in lifestyle was one of the most important decisions that helped catapult his fortunes in international cricket.

“Kohli once told me, if I don’t set the benchmark as captain, who else will? Even as the world looks on in wonder, I know the boy behind the man. He used to gorge on butter chicken, rolls and all sorts of fast food. But today, it finds no place in his diet.”

These words by Rajkumar, Virat Kohli’s coach, highlight the sacrifice that the 28-year old has made, on his way to clinching top honours in world cricket.

In case you didn’t know…

When Kohli was taking baby steps at the international level, he was a chubby 19-year old, who enjoyed his fair share of parties and wasn’t particularly fussy about the right foods. It wasn’t until a sub-par season of the IPL that the batsman got a sudden jolt and realised that his poor eating habits were hindering his growth as an international player.

From that point, he completely changed his eating and exercising habits: for starters, he became particular about his time in the gym by employing a weight workout and compulsorily working two hours a day. He also started using elevation masks and the Technoshaper, a device that helps reduce body fat.

The heart of the matter

While speaking to CricketNext, Rajkumar concedes that Kohli has become very particular about the kind of food he intakes, with carbs being a ‘strict no-no’ for the Indian captain. The coach has no qualms in admitting that it requires tremendous mental strength to overhaul one’s lifestyle at such a young age.Kohli managed to do so.

He has stopped eating rotis, abstains from coffee that has sugar, and insists on having fresh juices: packaged ones won’t do at all for him. All meals that he eats should be either grilled or boiled. Cheat days don’t find a mention in his schedule.

What’s next?

The steep rise in his batting graph is a testimony to the hard yards that the right-hander has made during the initial stages of his career, with an unflinching aim of becoming the world’s best batsman.

With the honour of captaining the country in all three formats now on him, Kohli continues to relentlessly raise the bar and search for the next level. He’s motoring along at the moment, both with his form and his fitness, and has even built a gym inside his house to ensure that he never misses out on his workouts.

Sportskeeda’s take

With a combination of solid mental strength and the right guidance, Kohli has transformed the way Indian cricketers train. It is heartening to see a cricketer, who is an icon throughout the country, encouraging a positive way of living. Budding cricketers and youngsters, with eyes fixated on his every move, will surely be inspired to imbibe a healthy lifestyle.

As for Indian cricket, the change has been instrumental in extracting the best out of the players. The results are clearly there to show.