In a recent revelation, Bangladesh opener Tamim Iqbal has stated that he was ashamed of himself after seeing the training regime of Indian skipper Virat Kohli and the way he goes about his game.
Iqbal stated that the incident happened some two-three years ago when he thought to himself why he cannot produce the same level of performance as Kohli despite being of the same age.
“I must say this, it is not because I am talking to an Indian commentator, India is our neighbour so whatever things they do, it affects Bangladesh as well. We follow what is happening in India, when India changed its approach towards fitness, it impacted Bangladesh the most,” Iqbal told Sanjay Manjrekar in a videocast hosted by ESPNCricinfo.
“I have no shame in admitting this, when I saw Virat Kohli running around two-three years ago, I was ashamed of myself, I thought this is a guy who is probably my age, but he is training so much and I have not done even half of it. We have a great example in our team as well, Mushfiqur Rahim manages himself well regarding fitness,” he added.
During his initial days as a cricketer, Kohli was fond of chicken and has even admitted that several times during public or media interactions.
However, since 2013, Kohi has been much more focused on his diet, training and fitness. Punctuality and possessiveness about what and when he eats has taken him to the top of the fitness and performance charts in modern-day cricket.
Kohli is currently ranked at the top spot in the ICC ODI rankings while he is in second place in the Test match rankings.