Bangladesh opening batsman Tamim Iqbal has said that he was ashamed on seeing the training regime of Indian skipper Virat Kohli. “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 doing even half of it,” he said. Iqbal told this to former cricketer Sanjay Manjrekar in a videocast hosted by ESPNCricinfo.
The Bangladeshi cricketer also admires his teammate, Mushfiqur Rahim, when it comes to fitness. “We have a great example in our team as well, Mushfiqur Rahim manages himself well regarding fitness,” Iqbal said. During his initial days of international cricket, Kohli was fond of chicken which he has admitted several times during media interaction. But in 2013, the 31-year-old batsman intentionally shifted his focus to fitness, diet, and training. Now he has become punctual about his diet which has given him a different character on and off the field.
Experts believe it’s his discipline and fitness regime that’s keeping Kohli ahead of others. No wonder, the comparisons between Kohli and Sachin Tendulkar have been growing by the day and many have picked the current Indian skipper to break the records set by Tendulkar