Indian
skipper Virat Kohli spoke about his unhealthy eating habits during his formative
years, saying he used to indulge in a lot of junk food which negatively impacted his
fitness.   

Kohli was attending the Fit India Dialogue, where Prime Minister Narendra Modi joked that Delhi’s ‘Chole Bhature’ must be missing him since he adopted a fitness regime. 

“Yes definitely. I used to eat a lot of junk food and other unhealthy food, which were detrimental to my fitness. I had no discipline with respect to my diet.” 

He also emphasised
on the importance of fitness in sports, saying that it will be impossible to
compete at the highest level if fitness is not maintained.

Kohli said, “The
demands of our game changed very swiftly over recent years and I realised it
was necessary to change our fitness regime to keep up with others.”

“(Cricketers)
cannot depend on their skills alone, we have always had talented players, but
in order to compete with the best, the body and mind need to be equally strong.”

The Delhi-born
batsman said that although he started his fitness journey to improve his game, he
gives more importance to his fitness sessions than his cricket-related training.

“I don’t mind
missing the occasional training session, but I don’t like missing my fitness
sessions.”

In response
to the Prime Minister’s questions about the ‘Yo-Yo’ test that cricketers are
subjected to, Kohli said that India’s fitness levels were below that of
other nations, adding that a benchmark for fitness is needed in the elite sports.

The Fit India dialogue was organised to mark the first anniversary of the Fit India Movement. It was attended by eminent fitness enthusiasts and experts, like nutritionist Rujuta Diwekar, footballer Afshan Ashiq, actor and fitness enthusiast Milind Soman, para-Olympian gold medallist Devendra Jhajharia among others.