"Trying To Build...": Virat Kohli's Fitness Goal Looking Ahead At The T20 World Cup Revealed By Royal Challengers Bangalore Trainer

Virat Kohli, despite his dwindling form, is at the heart of Indian cricket team's plans. He is no longer the national side's captain but remains an integral part of the leadership group. With Team India not winning any ICC title since the 2013 Champions Trophy, the T20 World Cup later this year in Australia presents a great opportunity for the side to end the title drought. Kohli, who is India's second highest scorer in T20Is with a tally of 3296 runs after Rohit Sharma (3313 runs), has already started to prepare for the mega event.

The 33-year-old Kohli has set himself some very specific goals and is working towards it in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2022 while training for Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB).    

Shanker Basu, former Indian cricket team strength and conditioning coach, is currently working with him in the RCB camp towards achieving those fitness targets.  

"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, RCB trainer, said in a video posted on the IPL franchise's YouTube page.

"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."

Basu further gave a detailed plan on what Kohli is doing in his training.

"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," Basu said.

"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."

Topics mentioned in this article

Virat Kohli Rohit Sharma Royal Challengers Bangalore India Cricket Team Cricket