Kohli’s fitness mantra ahead of T20 WC: Eat well, sleep well, train well

Virat Kohli’s spot in India’s T20 World Cup is in question. The Royal Challengers Bangalore batter is struggling for form in IPL 2022. He has scored 186 runs in 10 matches at an average of 20.67 and strike rate of 116.25 and a lot of other players have come up to take his No 3 spot in the national side. 

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“He is a great servant of Indian cricket. But his form from sometime now is a huge concern now for the national selectors and BCCI,” a BCCI Official told Insidesport.

Kohli recently scored his first fifty of IPL 2022. The 33-year-old hit 58 runs in 53 deliveries against the Gujarat Titans. 

However, T20 is a fast format. A batter needs to score big but at a much higher run rate that Kohli’s. 

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While several experts and fans are questioning his selection, the former Indian skipper is prepping for the tournament that will be held in Australia in October-November this year. India’s strength and conditioning coach, Shanker Basu, revealed the 33-year-old’s fitness mantra. 

“Virat is mainly… we are trying to build muscle mass. We are trying to get that mass. T20 also requires a lot of explosive moves. Force production is a byproduct of T20. It’s a mandatory thing for him to be strong. He is also having the World Cup round the corner. So as a long-distance call as well as a short-distance call, it’s the same,” Basu, who is RCB’s trainer, said in a video posted on the franchise’s YouTube page.

He further added that Kohli’s child-like enthusiasm excites him. The batter is one of the fittest cricketers currently. 

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“What excites me is he comes with a child-like enthusiasm even today. What I saw in him when he was 19 or 20, in fact the enthusiasm has not come down even by one per cent. In fact, I can say it has gone up one per cent. The drive and that steely resolve he has got is so inspirational for everyone.”

Shekhar Basu further continued by describing Kohli’s current fitness mantra. 

“Can’t actually do the same thing over and over again. It has to change. The program generally lasts for one year. Every year, we need to start tweaking. We have to analyse, find out what is required at the moment. It’s like having a GPS route map and going towards it. I can talk about Virat for sure. It’s very simple things, boring things and he can do it consistently for years together. That’s the mantra. Eat well, sleep well, train well and repeat,” he said.