Former Indian opener Virender Sehwag praised Indian cricket legend Sachin Tendulkar for his dedication to fitness which helped him to play for India for a long time. Sehwag pointed out that master blaster would compete with Virat Kohli, who is a known fitness freak in Indian Team.
Speaking on the YouTube channel ‘Beer Biceps”, Virender Sehwag pointed out that the reason for Sachin’s longevity in cricket is due to his commitment to fitness. The former Indian opener said, Sachin always wanted to improve his fitness which will better his run-scoring ability.
“Why do you think Sachin Tendulkar was able to play for so many years? It’s because each year he kept thinking what new can I add to my batting or I can become better? If I can’t add in batting, I should maintain my fitness in such a way that I can convert 100s into 200s. When we came in the 2000s, he would concentrate on fitness more than us. Later, in 2008 when Virat Kohli came in, Sachin would compete with him. He paid more attention to fitness than him,” Sehwag said.
India’s team followed fitness criteria very strictly since MS Dhoni took over the captaincy in 2007, even before that Tendulkar always concentrated on his fitness and even stressed Sachin paid more attention to fitness than Virat Kohli.
He Used To Do It 100 Times A Day – Virender Sehwag
Virender Sehwag revealed an interesting event involving Sachin Tendulkar, who used to run up the stairs 100 times a day to his house on the 10th floor, to generate power in his legs. Sachin Tendulkar hadn’t missed out on many matches due to injuries, which implies his fitness in cricket.
“I have not seen this but only heard that his house was on the 10th floor so he used to run up and down the stairs and used to do it 100 times a day. With that kind of running, the power he was able to generate in his legs would be unbelievable, He was playing since 1989. In 1999, he had a back problem; after that, he began weight training a lot after which it never occurred to him,” he added.
Tendulkar is the only batter to score 100 international centuries and is widely regarded as one of the greatest batters to play cricket. Sachin’s cricket career lasted over 24 years which can be achieved by only a few cricketers in the history of cricket.