In Sunday's first ODI against Australia, Rohit Sharma made his comeback to the international scene. The Champions Trophy final was the last time Rohit played for Team India. Due to his poor fitness, the Hitman was in the news for the wrong reasons during his lengthy sabbatical, with some supporters doubting his ability to play international cricket in the future. But as a clear indication of his dedication to the sport, Rohit not only put in a lot of effort at the gym but also managed his diet to get back in shape.
Abhishek Nayar, the former assistant coach for India, worked closely with Rohit in the gym to help him get back to peak fitness. Nayar described how hard Rohit worked to go back to his former level of fitness while talking to the broadcaster during the first ODI between India and Australia in Perth.
"To sum up, three hours of training every day. We didn't do a lot of cardio. The first five weeks were about a bodybuilder's mindset, where he was trying to train to completely lean down. He trained like a bodybuilder-high repetitions," Nayar said.
"It would surprise a lot of people. Even Team India's strength and conditioning coach, Adrian Le Roux, would abuse me! But he did 700-800 reps for every body part. It was almost an hour-and-a-half session every day. Imagine, if you were doing chest and triceps, you ended up doing 800 reps. With light weights, we did a lot of repetitions, aiming for strength and endurance. Along with that, we finished every session with around 15 to 20 minutes of cross-fit, which is more cardio and movement-based. This was six days a week, three hours a day, for three months. It was non-stop," he added.
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Nayar disclosed that Rohit had given up Mumbai's vadapav, a dish that the batter is said to love and is frequently made fun of.
"But the game doesn't end there. After that, his eating habits had to be controlled," Nayar said.
"It was his commitment to go home and not indulge in the famous vada pav and everything else people talk about. That was his commitment to the sport. Those three hours are only as useful as what you do after that. Those 21 hours-the way he controlled himself, not to eat-that was the mindset.
"The first eight weeks were pure, hard-core training," he added.
Instead of building muscle, Rohit concentrated on becoming a more athletic cricketer, according to Nayar. As the effort paid off, he personally relished it.
"Then we introduced skills. We were trying to see what changes had come about in the way he moved, how he felt after losing weight. It's been a lot of hard work-from being a bodybuilder to becoming an athlete in those few weeks," he said.
"The first time we practised, he played a defensive shot. That day, the scenario was drop and run. When he ran and reached the non-striker's end, he said: 'Bhai, main toh ud raha hoon (Brother, I'm flying).' That was his feedback, because after a long time, he was feeling really light."
Nayar further disclosed that Rohit's transformation was brought on by a picture of him that was taken at an airport.
"He did a similar transformation in 2011. Before that, there was a photo of him in a newspaper looking bulky. He is very particular about his image on social media. If a photo of him comes out with a circle and an arrow on his stomach, that inspires him."
"A photo like that went viral after he returned from his holiday post the IPL. That photo claimed he was overweight. The discussion then was centred around what we needed to do. Yes, we wanted him to get fit for cricket, but he also thought about how people would visually perceive Rohit. Yes, he has to prolong his career and reach the 2027 World Cup. The first thing we wanted to do was transform him physically."
"We targeted 10 kilograms (weight loss). Initially, I wasn't very confident that he would lose that much. We started out with a goal in mind, but we needed consistency in training and nutrition. When you have tournaments in between, you lose that consistency. But here, we had three uninterrupted months. What happened in three months here couldn't have happened in six," he said.
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