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Australian all-rounder Marcus Stoinis is on a unique journey during the ODI World Cup in India. Stoinis is touring India with his personal chef to guarantee he maintains a low-carb diet throughout the ODI World Cup.
In a unique approach, the 34-year-old athlete is adhering to a ketogenic diet, characterised by high fat and low carb consumption. Among his favourite dishes are baked oats infused with protein, as reported by cricket.com.au.
To ensure his diet aligns with his rigorous standards, Stoinis has enlisted the services of Velton Saldanha, a chef with French cuisine training, hailing from Mumbai. Saldanha accompanies Stoinis throughout his time in India and prepares meals for him from the Australian team's hotel kitchen.
Stoinis shared the inspiration behind his dietary choices with cricket.com.au's Unplayable Podcast, saying, "Quite a few of the Indian boys do it, that's where I got the idea. I've always been quite strict with my food and all that stuff in my preparation."
While the Australian team provides its own chef to oversee food preparation during their travels, Stoinis has taken an extra step to optimise his performance.
The report mentioned that Marcus Stoinis has made some dietary changes, with garlic naan being replaced by gluten-free banana bread and shepherd's pie paired with roasted cauliflower mash. Additionally, a dish of roast butter chicken, which combines Saldanha's French culinary training with his Indian heritage, has proven to be popular.
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For the carbohydrate portion of his carefully designed diet, Stoinis relies on baked oats, and there's even a suggestion that by the end of the World Cup, Saldanha might be able to market "Stoinis Oats" as a standalone culinary offering. The connection between Stoinis and Saldanha was established during this year's Indian Premier League (IPL) on the recommendation of his teammate and Indian cricket star KL Rahul. Saldanha, who has experience working in fine-dining restaurants in Chicago and New York, founded Mumbai's Chutney Collective during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Throughout the tournament, Stoinis has encountered challenges in maintaining consistent performance. He was unable to participate in the opening match due to concerns about his hamstring and quad. In the three matches he has played so far, his scores have been 5, 20 not out, and 21.
"I want to play for as long as I can. I want to take control of as many things as I can through my cricketing career," said Stoinis.
"We travel a lot and we're obviously away from our comfort zone. We're in different time zones. we're in different beds, we're in different hotels – we're not exactly by the beach in Perth, having a coffee and that sort of stuff," he added.
He does not consider investing in a personal chef as a waste of money.
"So I'm more than happy to invest in myself and in my environment. I don't see that stuff, which some people do, as a waste (of money)," Stoinis continued
"I'm happy to invest in my own chef or invest in my own batting coach or invest in my own sports psychologist – that's just the way I see things," the Aussie all-rounder concluded.
(Powered by AI, Inputs by PTI)
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