In August, Rohit Sharma was returning from a vacation with his family. As usual, paparazzi arrived at the airport. The images and video shot that day went viral, but for the wrong reasons. Having retired from two formats and with little to no competitive cricket, it seemed like Rohit had gained a little weight.
How an image made Rohit Sharma lose 10 kg
Rohit’s struggles with fitness and his weight had been well documented prior. Several people had been critical of Rohit for not paying enough attention to his physical conditioning, but since he continued to perform, there was little to no pushback. But post his Test cricket, questions were getting asked of him.
While Rohit looked a little out of shape, people edited the original image to make him appear ‘fat’. The image went viral, and even Rohit saw them. This sparked a change. He called his former Mumbai teammate and India batting coach, Abhishek Nayar, and planned a fitness regimen for the India vs Australia ODI series.
Before the end of September, Rohit had lost 10 kg. He looked fitter than ever. Nayar, who was the man behind this physical transformation, has now spoken about how that viral image led to Rohit going back to the drawing board and reinventing himself at 38.
“There were a lot of talks about him putting on weight, and a few images of him coming out of the airport. So, it was about changing all of that and, in a lot of ways, to be healthier, faster, and fitter,” Nayar said on Star Sports.
“I think initially we realised that there were 12 weeks before the Australia series, so the idea was to do something different. Since we had time on our hands, the focus wasn’t just on maintaining; it was on growth. Growth in terms of his physical structure, his movement, how he viewed himself, how he looked in the mirror, and being in a place where he felt fitter, faster, and more agile on the field, even with the bat,” he added.
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