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Virat Kohli gauged the fitness levels of the Indian hockey team during the third edition of the RCB Innovation Lab Indian Sports Summit on Tuesday. Indian batting legend and Royal Challengers Bangalore veteran, Virat Kohli says that Indian hockey players are more physically fit than the cricket team.
Kohli is among those cricketers around the world who are often referred to as fitness icons. The 37-year-old statistician says fitness should be a benchmark and an essential element of the game, not something extraordinary.
We don’t even have 15% fitness of Indian hockey players: Virat Kohli
He further adds that the game demands players to be fit on all parameters. Acknowledging the popularity of cricket in India, Virat observed that other sports in the country, where players work very hard, are mostly ignored.
Virat Kohli said in a release, “I know people sometimes look at fitness as something extraordinary, but for me, it is simply what the job demands. It should be the norm, not celebrated as something special. Cricket is such a focus in our country that we often ignore other sports.”
He said, “If I’m honest, we are not even 15% of the fitness of an Indian hockey player. If hockey players watch our training sessions, they will probably laugh because their game demands much more physicality.”
Indian men’s hockey captain recalls conversation with Virat Kohli
On the occasion, Indian men’s hockey captain Harmanpreet Singh recalled his recent conversation with the Indian cricket team superstar. Harmanpreet mentioned that Virat was very keen to learn more about hockey, the fitness standards of the game, as it is a fast-paced game.
Being a fast-paced sport, hockey demands all its players to be fit at the highest possible level. Indian hockey cricket team is also not an exception.
“Recently at an event we had a really good chat about fitness. He told me that hockey is a fast game and he was curious to know about our fitness standards. We talked about the yo-yo test and when I told him that even our goalkeepers score above 20, he was really surprised,” said Harmanpreet Singh.
Harmanpreet further mentioned that there was a lot of discussion between them regarding training and fitness. The national hockey team captain expressed his gratitude to the Indian cricket legend for recognizing the nature of the game.
He said, “We had a wonderful discussion and shared experiences about training and fitness. I am grateful that someone like Virat Kohli paid attention to the fitness standards of hockey players because our game is one of the fastest and most physically demanding sports in the world. This kind of recognition means a lot to the hockey community.”
‘Hockey is incredibly fast’
Veteran Indian hockey midfielder Manpreet Singh also agrees with Harmanpreet’s words. Manpreet describes hockey as a mixture of speed, stamina and continuous running. Therefore, players need to ensure their fitness is always at the top level.
Manpreet Singh said, “Hockey today is incredibly fast. The ball travels from one end to the other in a matter of seconds, and players are constantly moving, pressing and making changes. The game demands top-level fitness as our game is built on speed, stamina and constant running.”
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