Team India skipper Virat Kohli revealed that there was a time when the opponent team didn’t consider him a threat. That motivated him to make massive changes in his lifestyle and work towards becoming a dangerous player.
The swashbuckling right-hander recently became India’s most successful Test captain.
Kohli opened up about how India’s tour of Australia in 2012 helped him transform into a true fitness icon.
“(There was a time) When I walked in to bat, there wasn’t any fear or respect in opposition corner,” Kohli was quoted as saying in a sports web-show, ‘In Depth with Graham Bensinger.’
“I didn’t want to walk into the ground thinking that opposition feels that this guy is a pushover, who is going to do no damage. Just didn’t want to be another player as I wanted to make an impact.”
“I wanted that when I walk in, the teams should think that we need to get this guy out or else we will lose the game. And if I don’t want to be that guy, then there is something wrong in my head,” he added.
The 30-year-old termed fitness as an integral part of his life and said it had helped enhance his energy levels during the 2019 World Cup. He further explained how he recovered quickly after the six-week-long tournament in England.
“During World Cup, every game my energy level was 120 percent. My recovery was so fast that average distance I covered in a game was 15 kms. I would come back, do my recovery treatments and travel to another city and soon I was ready to train again.”
“There was so much energy that I could do gym sessions and play 10 games in such a short span of time (35 days). Played each game at high intensity and never felt like this before. There was no stiffness in my body.”
Kohli stated that the reason behind his success was plenty of hard work as he felt he wasn’t the most skillful of sportspersons.
“I knew I wasn’t the most skilled sportsperson when I came in but only constant thing has been working on myself. If Indian team has to be the best in the world, it needs to go about in a certain manner.”
“When we came back from Australia in 2012, I saw a gap (between us and Australia). I realised, if we don’t change the way we are playing, training or eating, we can’t compete with best in the world.”
“No point in competing if you don’t want to be the best. I wanted to be the best version of myself and then based everything around that vision, my approach to the game changed,” the Indian run-machine signed off.
