Shaun Pollock, the former South African cricketer, recalled an incident when Indian captain Virat Kohli visited gym instead of celebrating victory. Virat Kohli is known as one of the fittest sportspersons in the world at the moment as his dedication towards health and fitness has inspired a lot of players all over the world.
Shaun Pollock mentioned in a recent interaction on Cricbuzz that former skipper MS Dhoni brought intensity and Virat Kohli continued the legacy. The former Proteas all-rounder was commentating after taking retirement in 2008 and mentioned that instead of celebrating a victory, Virat Kohli visits the gym and is seen there most often instead of going back to hotels to take rest.
Shaun Pollock-Virat Kohli Taken Intensity To The Next Level After MS Dhoni Brought It
Former South Africa skipper Shaun Pollock said that it was former India captain MS Dhoni who brought the intensity to the Indian team as captain and added that Virat Kohli had taken that intensity to the next level.
Explaining his point, Shaun Pollock recalled an incident that happened during the India-South Africa series, which exemplified Virat Kohli’s dedication towards his fitness.
“When Dhoni took over the captaincy, he brought an intensity to the party. He had a very calm demeanor in his captaincy. But when he got to the crease, he would be running hard between the wickets, the way he conducted himself, the way he marshaled his troops, it was very good,” Pollock said.
MS Dhoni captained India in limited-overs from 2007 to 2016 after quitting from Tests in 2014 to give the likes of wicket-keeper Wriddhiman Saha more chance. He is the only skipper to win all 3 major ICC trophies including 2007 inaugural T20 World Cup in 2007 and 50 overs 2011 World Cup after a hiatus of 28 years.
Shaun Pollock-Virat Kohli Visits Gym Often Instead Of Resting At Hotel Or Celebrating Win
Virat Kohli, on the other hand, averages more than 50 in each of the 3 formats and is the top-ranked ODI batsman in the world and regarded best contemporary batsman currently in the world. He has 70 international centuries next only to Sachin Tendulkar.
He was handed over the Test captaincy following MS Dhoni’s Test retirement in 2014. In early 2017, he became the limited-overs captain as well after MS Dhoni stepped down from the position.
“And Kohli has continued to run with it. When I go for commentating for the India-South Africa series, at times, we finish the games early, and people go to their hotels. I might go to the gym, and I often see Kohli at the gym, after the day’s play. After they have won, and they could be celebrating, but he is at the gym,” Pollock said.
“Dhoni was the one who set that intensity and Kohli took it to the next level,” he further added.
RCB led by Virat Kohli failed to beat MS Dhoni-led Chennai Super Kings on Sunday. RCB scored just 145 runs in 20 overs, and CSK chased down the target in 18.4 overs with Ruturaj Gaikwad scoring an unbeaten 65.
Virat Kohli had scored a fifty off 43 balls in the match. But still, CSK team is at the bottom of the points table and officially out of contention for a spot in the playoffs. Virat Kohli is the 3rd highest run-scorer so far with 415 runs in 11 matches averaging 59.29.