If I am leading and I want my teammates to put in efforts, I should be there all day, doing that first, admits Virat Kohli
After the intervention of the yo-yo test, cricket has gone leaps and bounds in terms of fitness level. The Indian skipper is one of the prime examples of fitness freaks going around in the world of cricket. His way is to set an example for his teammates rather than expecting outputs from them.
Virat Kohli has taken fitness to another level with his fitness not only being comparable with cricketers but sportspersons across the globe. His infectious obsession with fitness has rubbed off on his teammates and Indian team looks absolutely different than what they used to look a decade ago on the field.
"Obviously when your habits are not great, you know when you are young, you are not that disciplined. You are partying, not taking care of your rest. You know you have a few drinks as well. Your system is not responding the way it should be for a sportsman,” Kohli told Boria Majumdar in an India Today interview.
"And I think that it has to be a thing that comes from within. It can't be taught to you. It can't be explained from the outside. Luckily that thing came to me itself that you need to get your act right if you want be a successful international cricketer,” he added.
Kohli’s influence is now evident in the team's fitness training. It seems like each member of the team wants to follow the footsteps of Virat Kohli and be their own’s fittest versions. Team India’s dominance in all the formats is proof of their overall improved fitness level.
"If I am leading and if I want my teammates to put in efforts, I should be there all day, doing that first, you know before asking someone else to do it. So everything came together so wonderfully for me. My own thing came, my mindset, the fitness change, the boost through Mr Basu our trainer. I think 2016 is when I really hit my fitness peak and from then on I have just maintained for the last 3-4 years," Kohli concluded.