May 13, 2025 16:04 IST
First published on: May 13, 2025 at 16:04 IST
Share
-
In cricket, as much as in any other chapter in history, characters appear for brief periods, make their statement and fade away into posterity. However, there are some characters who leave behind an indelible impression not merely by virtue of the runs they score or the number of wickets they take but by the revolution they create. Virat Kohli is the fourth highest Indian run-getter in test matches. He may not enjoy the sobriquet of “Master Blaster” or “the Wall”, but as King Kohli, he introduced a whole new culture of physical fitness, dietary discipline and mental toughness. Test cricketers were at best seen chasing the ball or attempting to stop it heading towards the boundary with their legs. All-time greats like Vivian Richards or Kapil Dev were never seen diving, let alone swooping down, and, in one smooth motion, collecting the ball and throwing it straight into the wicket keeper’s gloves. His retirement, only from Test cricket, not all formats of cricket, has dismayed youngsters across the country.
My introduction to cricket was merely as a player in school, and later, following the game through television and newspapers. It was only when I got helicoptered into the BCCI, courtesy the Supreme Court, that I got an insider’s view of the game and its players. I got to meet the players in person and managed a peep into what makes them click. Each had a distinctive style. Mahendra Singh Dhoni was an icon in his own right; Rohit Sharma had his own characteristic style. However, none could manage the yo-yo test with ease and perfection as that bundle of energy and pure muscle called Virat Kohli. The gym was his home. Shunning biryani for quinoa, he revolutionised a whole new regimen of diet and exercise. It made so many of us realise that discipline and a strict regimen is a must not for cricket alone but for life itself.
Story continues below this ad
Cricket commentators and aficionados of the game have often commented that the BCCI allowed a “superstar” culture to be created around certain players. The fallacy in this argument is that the BCCI may try its best to provide any player with opportunities to represent a team but unless the athlete proves his mettle on the sacred 22 yards, they cannot create an icon. It is only outstanding performances on the ground, which capture the imagination of the cricket-loving public, that create stars. A Delhi boy, from a middle-class Punjabi family, with no godfather in the cricketing arena, announced his arrival by sheer dint of his batting prowess and leadership qualities. The enigma he created was such that his mere stepping on to the cricket ground would electrify the stands. It was not his 9,000-odd runs in Test cricket, or the seven double centuries he scored, that will be remembered but the sight of the well-chiselled muscular frame which transformed batting into poetry in motion with sublime grace. He has managed to energise future generations of cricketers into fitness techniques and dietary consciousness. Every year, he raised the bar for grit, unyielding endurance and core strength. His obsession with fitness and agility permeated through the ranks of players whom he either led or who idolised him. He introduced a whole new work ethic, discipline and the realisation that talent fades in the face of inadequate physical conditioning. The recognition of hitting a rough patch in his batting career, working on his mental toughness and spending double the time in the nets, soon saw him emerge as the lord and master of the 22-yard stretch that he had dominated earlier.
As Indian cricket continues to rule, the Vaibhav Suryavanshis, Tilak Varmas and Arshdeep Singhs will do well to imbibe the gold standard of fitness and dietary regimen that Kohli has established. Cricket, with the IPL testing every sinew in the player’s body, is as much a game of fitness, mental conditioning as it is about technique. Kohli established the fact that you excel on the ground only as long as you remain physically capable of enduring the brutal demands that the game makes on the human body.
Kohli has transformed the way cricket is played. He has redefined Indian cricket. He has set a gold standard for fitness. He has enthused and energised a whole generation of youngsters. This contribution will have a more lasting impression on Indian cricket than the batter who scored the fourth highest number of runs in Test cricket or was a leadership icon.
Story continues below this ad
The writer is a former Comptroller and Auditor General of India
