A stalwart in Indian cricket, Rohit Sharma marked his return to international cricket in the First ODI against Australia on Sunday. Rohit last featured for Team India during the Champions Trophy final. Over the period of his extended break, the Hitman’s poor fitness generated plenty of noise, with a section of fans questioning his future in international cricket. However, making a strong statement of his commitment towards the game, Rohit didn’t just work hard in the gym but also controlled his eating habits to get back in shape.

Former India assistant coach, Abhishek Nayar, worked closely with Rohit in the gym to help him return to fitness. During a chat with the broadcaster in the First ODI between India and Australia at Perth, Nayar explained how hard Rohit worked to regain his lost fitness.

“To sum up, three hours of training every day. We didn’t do a lot of cardio. The first five weeks were about a bodybuilder’s mindset, where he was trying to train to completely lean down. He trained like a bodybuilder-high repetitions,” Nayar said.

“It would surprise a lot of people. Even Team India’s strength and conditioning coach, Adrian Le Roux, would abuse me! But he did 700-800 reps for every body part. It was almost an hour-and-a-half session every day. Imagine, if you were doing chest and triceps, you ended up doing 800 reps. With light weights, we did a lot of repetitions, aiming for strength and endurance. Along with that, we finished every session with around 15 to 20 minutes of cross-fit, which is more cardio and movement-based. This was six days a week, three hours a day, for three months. It was non-stop,” he added.

No Vadapav For Rohit Sharma

Nayar revealed that Rohit quit Mumbai’s famous vadapav, a delicacy the batter reportedly favours a lot, and is often trolled about.

“But the game doesn’t end there. After that, his eating habits had to be controlled,” Nayar said.

“It was his commitment to go home and not indulge in the famous vadapav and everything else people talk about. That was his commitment to the sport. Those three hours are only as useful as what you do after that. Those 21 hours-the way he controlled himself, not to eat-that was the mindset.

“The first eight weeks were pure, hard-core training,” he added.

Nayar revealed that Rohit focused on becoming a more athletic cricketer rather than putting on muscle. He himself enjoyed it as the efforts paid off.

“Then we introduced skills. We were trying to see what changes had come about in the way he moved, how he felt after losing weight. It’s been a lot of hard work-from being a bodybuilder to becoming an athlete in those few weeks,” he said.

“The first time we practised, he played a defensive shot. That day, the scenario was drop and run. When he ran and reached the non-striker’s end, he said: ‘Bhai, main toh ud raha hoon (Brother, I’m flying).’ That was his feedback, because after a long time, he was feeling really light.”

The IPL Photo That Prompted The Big Change

Nayar also revealed that Rohit saw a photo of himself, clicked at an airport, which prompted this change in him.

“He did a similar transformation in 2011. Before that, there was a photo of him in a newspaper looking bulky. He is very particular about his image on social media. If a photo of him comes out with a circle and an arrow on his stomach, that inspires him.

“A photo like that went viral after he returned from his holiday post the IPL. That photo claimed he was overweight. The discussion then was centred around what we needed to do. Yes, we wanted him to get fit for cricket, but he also thought about how people would visually perceive Rohit. Yes, he has to prolong his career and reach the 2027 World Cup. The first thing we wanted to do was transform him physically.

“We targeted 10 kilograms (weight loss). Initially, I wasn’t very confident that he would lose that much. We started out with a goal in mind, but we needed consistency in training and nutrition. When you have tournaments in between, you lose that consistency. But here, we had three uninterrupted months. What happened in three months here couldn’t have happened in six,” he said.

With IANS Inputs