ICC World Cup 2019 | Virat Kohli is any teacher's delight, reveals Indian Team trainer
India’s strength and conditioning coach Shankar Basu discussed the fitness regimes of the players in the squad on Tuesday and called Virat Kohli as the most sincere of the lot in the process. He went on to label injury prone Mohammed Shami as his biggest success with the national team.
As and when cricket has developed, so have its ancillary features with fitness being one of the most major fields where progress has been achieved. India has managed to stay at par with the trend, with the present squad probably the fittest Indian team in its entire history, thanks to a 50-year-old Shankar Basu.
Having had two stints with the national team since 2015, the former sprinter has worked closely with a large set of players. Unsurprisingly, he was all praise for the natural athlete and Indian skipper Virat Kohli, with whom he has also worked in the IPL being RCB’s fitness coach.
"Virat is any teacher's delight. His biggest attribute is that he is ready to do boring stuff every single day of the year. He knows his body and if he is training, he will have 100 questions with regards to routines. Once he gets the answers, he follows them with all sincerity,” Basu said of the captain to the TImes of India.
When it comes to injuries, it is the fast bowlers who need the most care and many careers have been ruined because of the same, Ashish Nehra’s case being the most prominent. Basu’s fitness regimes have ensured none of India’s star pacers sustained a single injury throughout the season.
“Bumrah wasn't one of the fittest guys when he came into the team. Today he is in that top bracket due to his sheer hard work, proper diet, good sleeping pattern. From 137 kmph speed, he now regularly clocks 147 kmph. Ditto for Bhuvi who bowls 140 clicks," Basu said of India’s two highest ranked pacers.
However, it is his work with Mohammed Shami that has most pleased him, considering the bowler has suffered successive injuries ever since he represented India in the last World Cup. Having not only managed to stay free of injuries but also become more fit overall and have a higher intensity, Shami was the name Basu took when asked about his biggest achievement with the Men in Blue.
"Probably you can say that. And come to think of it, he failed a fitness test last year and also had some issues in his personal life. Once he came back, he started training with a vengeance. I had told Shami that there is no point in training hard for 20 days. You have to train consistently. Now training is his lifestyle,” Basu explained.
He went on to talk about the different requirements of players due to variations in their biological makeup and backgrounds. While players like MS Dhoni and Rishabh Pant are an epitome of brute force, Kohli and Dinesh Karthik rely on weightlifting. KL Rahul and Bumrah, on the other hand, focus more on plyometric exercises. There is no doubt about the success he has attained with the team, while also managing to keep rice eating players like Vijay Shankar fit.
“You need to understand that Vijay is a superb athlete. He comes from a South Indian background and he has a connection with certain types of food. You can't take that away from him. Like Hardik Pandya can eat an elephant, yet he will always look thin,” Basu quipped.
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