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Cricket Players'More than half of our team had failed': Sehwag reveals what could have led to Kohli's obsession with fitness
Even when Rahul Tewatia and Varun Chakravarty failed their fitness tests ahead of the T20I series, Kohli has emphasised that there is no compromise on that ground.
Average fielding and catches being dropped are nothing new in Indian cricket. But when it happens despite the high fielding and fitness standards set by the current Indian team, it is bound to leave many surprised. As unbelievable as it is, irrespective of how good a physical shape the Indian players are in, the standard of fielding doesn't do justice to it.
India captain Virat Kohli himself admitted that he wasn't too pleased with the body language of the team in the second-half of the third T20I against England. Even when Rahul Tewatia and Varun Chakravarty failed their fitness tests ahead of the T20I series, Kohli had emphasised that there is no compromise on that ground. Safe to say the India captain feels there is no room for complacency in this Indian team as far as fitness is concerned.
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Kohli's obsession with fitness is one that is talked about all around the world over, but what exactly led to this? Former India captain Virender Sehwag might just have just answered the big question. Sehwag narrated an incident from 2011, when the Indian team had toured England and a young Kohli was part of India's Test and limited-overs squads.
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"I last toured England in 2011/12 to play two Test matches. I played one match at The Oval and one in Birmingham. All the county teams that are there, have a chart in their dressing rooms that demonstrate the standards of fitness. I think the fitness standards of this current Indian team have been picked from there," Sehwag said on Cricbuzz.
He further revealed how the players themselves were excited by the prospect of trying it out, but failed miserably upon attempting it. But somewhere down Kohli's heart, he did not accept it, and the moniker of fitness that surrounds this Indian team could well have stemmed from that failed attempt, reckons Sehwag.
"I'm saying it because back then even we were impressed with it. This much should be the weight, the mobility, the flexibility, and so on. When we tried doing it, more than half of our team failed in those tests in 2011/12," Sehwag said.
"So I think that is what Virat Kohli has picked. If England had that standard in fitness, we should too. And ever since he's taken over as captain, he's stressed enough on fitness that certain tests should be cleared, and only then can we compete the best."
