Bhubaneswar: Everyone looks at the glamour associated with star cricketers like Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma or for that matter even Rishabh Pant. There can be no doubt that many, in fact are envious of the status they enjoy of the field and the luxuries of life they can afford to have. However, one rarely sees the silent toil that goes into the making of a Virat Kohli or an MS Dhoni or a Rohit Sharma.
The gruelling two-month series against England spread over all the three formats got over, Sunday. However, there is no respite for the members of the Indian cricket team as they have got to get ready for one of the toughest tournaments in the world – the IPL. Every cricketer will now have to be mentally and physically fit to face the rigours of T20 cricket.
And when it comes to dedication towards fitness Kohli tops the list. Since he has taken over as captain of the Indian cricket team, Kohli has always harped on fitness and for him there are no short cuts to it. A day after the tough series against England got over Kohli did not put his feet up. The skipper of Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) started training in right earnest for the upcoming IPL. After all it is one trophy that has eluded Kohli so far in his glittering career.
Kohli was part of the 52-day home series against England. He did not ‘rest’ himself for any game. Yet he decided to continue on his fitness Monday. Kohli took to Twitter to post a video of himself running on a treadmill. He captioned the video saying: “No rest days. From here on its all about speed #IPL.”
See video: https://twitter.com/i/status/1376481851154427904
Kohli’s teammate and wicketkeeper-batsman AB de Villiers commented on Kohli’s post. He said that he is on his way to joining the team.
“Loving the form @imVkohli.. I’m all packed to join the team,” said De Villiers.
In response, Kohli took a hilarious dig at his friend. He tried to check on ABD’s fitness and wrote, “Hope you’re still fast between the wickets.”
Rising star and RCB opener Devdutt Padikkal joined the banter and said he can’t wait to begin training with the seniors. Padikkal was one of the finds of RCB last season.