Off wheat, no cold drinks, no desserts, nothing: Virat Kohli

Indian Test skipper Virat Kohli is on a roll. The kind of form he is in, he has made a mark for himself in the world cricket. No wonder why he is being tipped as the next generation legend of the game. Former England captain Michael Vaughan recently got an opportunity to have an exclusive with Kohli.

Vaughan and Kohli spoke at length about how Kohli sets his mindset, what his aspirations are, his fitness regimes and how he wishes to transform. Michael Vaughan wrote the brief interview in the column for The Telegraph. Being a cricketer in India is not easy. Players are seen as a god and with Kohli winning games for India, he is being revered like none other.

Virat Kohli remarked how he tried to fight the massive obsession of the fans. But later realised that he needs to appreciate it more than being pressurised by it. “I tried to fight it initially. This country loves comparisons. The moment I started doing well I was already compared to him [Tendulkar] but it is like chalk and cheese in my book. People come up and have a debate and say you can break his records,” said Virat Kohli.

“It is part of being a cricketer in India. It is part of the package that people love you. If you run away from it, it is going to haunt you, pressurise you and pull you down. I started to appreciate it. After a while I thought these people love me, they want me to do well. It is just they have a different way of expressing it,” quoted Kohli.

The Indian Test skipper further cited how tough it is to go out in India. People come flocking. Thus, it requires a lot of preparations before going for a dinner. This is the reason he likes to have a walk alone when he is touring England or Australia.

“It takes a lot of planning. For dinner you need a police guard in front of the vehicle you are travelling in, then you need to inform people at the restaurant to keep a table in the corner, not have any people close to that table. The main thing in our country is people like to grab you and touch you and feel if you are real or not,” he remarked.

“In India it can be difficult to control it. So when you go to play Australia or South Africa I usually do not make plans with anyone. I just walk around to get a feel of what it is like to just walk down the street. It is amazing. It is the best thing ever. I just put my music on, walk and go nowhere in particular. It is best thing in the world to be able to spend some time alone with myself,” he added.

Virat Kohli has a penchant for healthy living. He has emerged to be one of the fittest athletes on the field. He pointed out that it was after 2012 that he realised he needed to change his lifestyle.

“My training was horrible, I ate so bad, I was up until late, I was having a drink or two regularly. It was a horrible mindset. The season ended and I was so thankful it was over. I went home, came out of the shower one day and looked at myself in the mirror and said ‘you can’t look like this if you want to be a professional cricketer.’” said Kohli.

“I was 11 or 12kgs heavier than I am now, I was really chubby. I changed everything from the next morning from what I eat to how I train. I was in the gym for an hour-and-a-half every day. Working really hard, off gluten, off wheat, no cold drinks, no desserts, nothing. It was tough,” he added.

Virat also spoke about how he was spellbound when he met Sachin Tendulkar. Recalling the ice-breaking moment between him and the legend, Kohli quoted, “It is a very Indian thing in front of your seniors you do not want to admit you drink or go to parties. Guys were very strict about it when I was growing up. He asked me for a drink. I said I don’t drink. He persisted. I said I don’t drink. Eventually, I said I will have four ice cubes. From then on it was pretty easy.”