Team India’s strength and conditioning coach Shankar Basu has expressed delight in seeing their wards; Mohammad Shami and Jasprit Bumrah showing a lot of improvement in terms of fitness. Basu is elated as there has been no major injury scare during a particular season for the Men in Blue.
In the previous season, Shami has participated in all Test fixtures for India. Basu added one could say that as a coach to see his ward bowling with such intensity, is a satisfying thing to look at.
Shami goes stronger than ever:
Basu reiterated that to see Shami fit, is his major achievement during his career as a conditioning coach for India.
“Probably you can say that. And come to think of it, he failed a fitness test last year and also had some issues in his personal life. Once he came back, he started training with a vengeance. I had told Shami that there is no point of training hard for 20 days,” Basu told the PTI.
Injury-marred Shami has improved dramatically when it comes to his fitness. The 50-year-old Basu has credited Shami for working hard to undergo proper training in a bid to prove his fitness.
“You have to train consistently. Now training is his lifestyle. Look at how his pace never drops even in the final test of a five-game series,” Basu stated.
Virat Kohli tops the fitness chart:
On the other side, Basu reiterated Kohli has been remarkable when it comes to fitness. He added the Team India skipper does his job judiciously which eventually makes him any ‘teacher’s delight’.
“Virat is any teacher’s delight. His biggest attribute is that he is ready to do boring stuff every single day of the year. He knows his body and if he is training, he will have 100 questions with regards to routines. Once he gets the answers, he follows them with all sincerity,” Basu added.
While talking about Shami’s lifestyle, Basu has revealed that the paceman has brought the concept of ‘intermittent’ fasting. He further added Shami eats well in the second half after the first half, which has eventually helped him to reduce body fat.
“He is a meat eater but now he has cut down on his junk food. He is probably the first example in this Indian team who has started the concept of intermittent fasting. He doesn’t eat a lot during the first half of the day but eats well during the second half of the day. He has reduced his fat percentage,” Basu elaborated.
Basu has also praised prominent bowler Bumrah for taking fitness to another level. He also revealed Burmah hadn’t been that fit when he broke into the international circuit following his prominence in the Indian Premier League (IPL).
“Bumrah wasn’t one of the fittest guys when he came into the team. Today he is in that top bracket due to his sheer hard work, proper diet, good sleeping pattern,” Basu concluded.
With Bhuvneshar Kumar down with niggle, Shami will be an automatic choice for skipper Kohli against Afghanistan on June 22 in Southampton.