Have no shame in admitting that I was ashamed seeing Virat Kohli train: Tamim Iqbal
Tamim said that the incident happened two-three years back when Kohli’s training compelled him to think about his own fitness as both him and Kohli were of the same age.
Apart from his cover drives, wristy flicks, his ability to score freely in all formats and his mastery in chasing down totals, fitness is something about Virat Kohli that the world is in awe of. The Indian captain has been at the forefront of the change in fitness standards of Indian cricket team. Bangladesh opener Tamim Iqbal was the latest to heap praise about Kohli’s fitness. Tamim on Tuesday explained how Kohli’s training before an international game had once made him feel ashamed.
Tamim said that the incident happened two-three years back when Kohli’s training compelled him to think about his own fitness as both him and Kohli were of the same age.
“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,” Tamim told Sanjay Manjrekar in a videocast hosted by ESPNCricinfo.
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“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.”
Tamim named Bangladesh wicket-keeper batsman Mushfiqur Rahim as someone who takes fitness standards very seriously.
“We have a great example in our team as well, Mushfiqur Rahim manages himself well regarding fitness,” he added.
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Tamim had also hosted Kohli in a facebook live session in which the Indian captain explained how approaches a particular chase.
Kohli, who first grabbed the limelight after leading India to the U19 World Cup title in 2008, was a lot different from the current version. The Indian captain has time again stated that he didn’t take fitness that seriously at the start of his career but later on it became an integral part of his life.
The comparisons between Kohli and Sachin Tendulkar have also kept on growing and many have picked the current Indian skipper to break the records set by Tendulkar.
Tendulkar managed to call time on his career after registering 100 international centuries, while Kohli currently has 70 centuries across all formats.
Currently, Kohli is ranked at the top spot in the ICC ODI rankings while he is in the second place in Tests rankings.
(With agency inputs)
