Virat Kohli is credited for bringing in fitness culture in Indian team during his captaincy reign.
Ex-India head coach Ravi Shastri has revealed how Virat Kohli brought in the fitness culture in the Indian team during his reign as the Men in Blue captain. He even revealed that Kohli needed to be calmed down, as sometimes he was ready to punch his own players for laziness.
As a captain, he was brutal and frequently barbarous. And forget about the opposition; Kohli showed no mercy to his own players when the competition was fierce.
No one has witnessed Kohli's harsh tactics—albeit for a better cause, namely the team's improvement—more than his coach, Ravi Shastri. Kohli and Shastri lifted Indian cricket to unparalleled heights.
The adoption of the Yo-Yo test is still spoken about today, as it marked the start of a new era in which player fitness became the bar for selection to the Indian squad. Anytime a player was determined to have failed to fulfill expectations, all hell broke loose.
"He would show them up otherwise. Because if you're running between the wickets, and if you’re a lazy bugger, you will soon find out. If you are looking for a second run, and if you're panting, and if he's looking for a third and you're yet to complete the second, immediately the message would be, 'Get to that bloody gym and start training, and get fitter,'" Shastri said on the LiSTNR Sport podcast.
Under Virat Kohli, the Indian team might not have won any ICC tournament, but they achieved other big things. India won the Test Mace for being the No. 1-ranked team in the format for five straight years. He also led India to their maiden Test series win in Australia, amongst other achievements.
Without the fire in his eyes, none of that would have been possible. Shastri remembered other occasions when Kohli did not think twice about taking a swing at his own batters after they were dismissed due to an error, necessitating the head coach's intervention.
"At times, I had to calm him down. If a wicket went down, he would jump out of his seat. I would say, 'Calm down. Let him cross halfway at least. Don't meet him when he's just 10 yards away from the stumps, you know. Come near the boundary line, then cross him'. He was like a cat on a hot tin roof, ready to get out there and punch him. That's Virat for you," added Shastri.