Ahead of Virat Kohli's landmark 100th Test, a couple of Indian cricketers who played with him at the 2008 Under-19 World Cup shared some interesting anecdotes about their former captain. As Kohli gears up to become the 12th Indian cricketer to play a century of Tests, and join an elite list of players, tributes have been pouring from all portions of the globe, and joining the list are spinner Iqbal Abdulla and fast bowler Pradeep Sangwan.
In a chat with The Indian Express, Sangwan revealed how Kohli used to be a big foodie back in the day. His fondness towards junk food is well known, but equally renowned is Kohli’s fierce determination which transformed him from being a fast-food maniac into one of the fittest athletes in the world.
"I know how much of a foodie he was. He used to eat a lot. Mutton-rice, everything. He would even walk for kilometers to go to various food joints; the only thing that mattered was taste," says Sangwan.
"In 2010, when he came to play for the Delhi Ranji team, everything was different. He was eating boiled food. He wouldn't drink more than 200 ml of liquid at a time. Rice-mutton curry had been replaced with diet food. I was surprised at how much he had changed himself. I used to meet him during the IPL and he never missed his fitness session. Most of the time, I saw him working out in the gym. His focus was way ahead of all of us. Often, cricketers do get lazy and have a 'cheat day' but Virat would never do that."
{{/usCountry}}"In 2010, when he came to play for the Delhi Ranji team, everything was different. He was eating boiled food. He wouldn't drink more than 200 ml of liquid at a time. Rice-mutton curry had been replaced with diet food. I was surprised at how much he had changed himself. I used to meet him during the IPL and he never missed his fitness session. Most of the time, I saw him working out in the gym. His focus was way ahead of all of us. Often, cricketers do get lazy and have a 'cheat day' but Virat would never do that."
{{/usCountry}}Left-arm spinner Abdulla recalled an incident from the 2008 World Cup, when one of Kohli's decision backfired and it left the former India captain fuming. But it was only because Kohli has always remained extremely invested in the game emotionally.
"As captain, Kohli had got so involved in a World Cup game that he forgot he had changed my field position. I was at deep midwicket and when the batsman hit the ball to square-leg, he sent me to field there. Soon, the ball went to midwicket, and Kohli lost his temper. I had to remind him of the sequence of events. We still have a laugh about that," said Abdulla.