Shanker Basu, a former Indian strength and conditioning coach, praised Virat Kohli’s remarkable training regimen. Kohli’s 14-year career in the game’s longest format came to an end on Monday, May 12, when he announced his retirement from Test cricket.
Basu, who also played for the Indian Premier League’s Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB), said Kohli was a wonderful learner who was always trying to become better and asking questions. Kohli trained with the commitment of an Olympic athlete, the former added.
He is the first cricket player to choose to train like an Olympian. He desired to train in a different way rather than using often used techniques. He excels as a student. At first, he will have many questions, and he will proceed in that manner when he is persuaded.
“A good leader first becomes a role model, which Virat Kohli did with great skill,” Basu told The Times of India (TOI).
“The team began adopting that culture one by one after that. Over time, the Indian squad was a living example of fitness. One of our squad members was asked what our team was doing by one of the foreign coaches once, I recall. The group, including Virat, is incredibly agile and moves like athletes. However, he continued, “I think Virat deserves all the credit.”
After Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, and Sunil Gavaskar, Kohli was India’s fourth-highest run scorer in Test cricket when he retired. At an average of 46.85, he scored 9230 runs in 123 Test matches. After retiring from T20Is last year, Kohli, who is still regarded as one of the best athletes in the sport, will only play in the ODI format.
Throughout RCB’s IPL 2025 campaign, he has been in outstanding form. With 505 runs from 11 innings at an average of 63.13, the 36-year-old is fourth among the season’s top run scorers. In order to assist RCB capture an elusive maiden IPL trophy, Kohli will want to maintain his impressive run of form.
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