"Very, very, very strong." Virat Kohli, MS Dhoni, Rishabh Pant... this is what fitness coach Basu Shanker said about his wards.
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00:00To play the game of cricket, I think they are already built like an ox.
00:03He knows his body in and out.
00:05Strongly built guy.
00:06He can jump, he can flip, he can do anything.
00:18So is it fair to say someone like Kohli now,
00:21see his fitness is at the center of his career.
00:24He probably knows enough about fitness to become a coach himself.
00:26Absolutely.
00:27I am right in saying that.
00:28Absolutely.
00:30He knows his body in and out.
00:32I am asking you this from my own perspective because when I went vegetarian,
00:35I had to really adjust kind of my routine, my recovery period, all that.
00:39What happened when he went vegetarian?
00:40As his coach, did you have to like adjust a lot of things?
00:42Obviously, I mean,
00:44the human body does not know whether you are a vegetarian or non-vegetarian.
00:47It only identifies as macronutrients and micronutrients.
00:50We need to find the balance.
00:51So we had to make adjustments and like fish to water, he took to it.
00:55And whenever he needs to make any adjustments and all,
00:58we all have a conversation and he'll always have pertinent questions.
01:03Once he's convinced, there's no looking back.
01:10He amazed me.
01:11I mean, I saw him as Dhoni.
01:13I mean, I got into the team in 2015.
01:16Of course, I've seen him before too.
01:19He's a hill boy.
01:21I think he's a Pahadi, as they call him. Pahadi.
01:23Yeah. Strongly built guy.
01:25I mean, Arusha Pant is the same.
01:28Pawan Nigi is the same.
01:29I think this Anuj Rawat is the same.
01:32He's for IPL now.
01:33I think these guys who come from the hilly regions are naturally very, very, very strong.
01:38And to play the game of cricket, I think they are already built like an ox.
01:43And I think MS played a lot of sport in his younger days.
01:46I think soccer has been his favorite. Yeah.
01:49I've seen him play soccer.
01:50The way he kicks the ball, he can pack a punch.
01:52Pack the punch.
01:54I mean, when I got into the team, I was already towards the end of his
01:58probably in his home stretch.
02:00It was more of taking care of his body.
02:02If he plays a match or practice, recovery was more important.
02:05And he had his own ways to do things.
02:08And I never troubled him on that.
02:10Here and there, he'll ask me a few things and I will help him.
02:13What was his own way of doing things?
02:14For him, primarily, it was a skill practice.
02:17OK. So he used to bat a lot.
02:19And then he believed in a lot of recovery in between matches.
02:23To be very honest, I'll never take credit for anything he's done.
02:27He knew exactly what he was doing.
02:29And even the exercise regime, which he probably followed,
02:33was something which he has arrived over a period of time.
02:36Gotcha. And he was self-taught.
02:38It was a natural.
02:40I think he was gifted with supreme strength.
02:44And that carried him through.
02:46He's 40 plus and still playing.
02:48And I would say that he's really gifted.
02:51I remember telling him that, you know, you're an extraordinary gymnast.
02:57Please call your gymnastic coach and thank him for what you're doing now.
03:00He was like flummoxed.
03:02I said, what? He can do a kip-off.
03:04He can do a front flip. He can do a back flip.
03:07You must have seen it on television, sir.
03:08And he's got the explosive ability because of...
03:12I think he's done a lot of gymnastics in his formative years.
03:15I think gymnastics also has a lot of strength.
03:18He's done a lot of gymnastics in his formative years.
03:20I think gymnastics also play a major role in development as an athlete.
03:25And not all of them will get the opportunity to do that.
03:27But if you can do that at a very young age, nothing like it.
03:30And probably that has helped a lot for Rishabh Pant.
03:33Rishabh Pant, if you notice, is very acrobatic because of that.
03:35He can jump. He can flip. He can do anything.
03:38But in batting, do you think that helps?
03:40I'm not a connoisseur of batting, but I'm sure all these things help.
03:44I mean, I always believe in multi-directional approach to life itself.
03:47I think a multi-directional approach to sport is definitely the need of the hour.