Former India assistant coach Abhishek Nayar revealed how Rohit Sharma improved his eating habits and reduced more than 10 kg in a space of three months. Nayar said that Rohit did not eat vadapav, a snack popular in Mumbai and often associated with former Indian captain by social media trolls.
"But the game doesn't end there. After that, his eating habits had to be controlled," Nayar said on JioStar.
"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, hardcore training," he added.
Nayar said that in order to get Rohit leaner, there wasn’t much cardio but weight training involved along with cross-fit. Rohit trained three hours a day for six days a week over the course of three months to achieve the result.
"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.
‘Bhai main toh ud raha hoon’ – Rohit to Nayar
Rohit was surprised by his transformation. At his first batting session, he tapped the ball and ran to the other end. In doing so, he realised that he felt much lighter running between the wickets.
"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."
Rohit bamboozled by extra bounce
On his comeback to international cricket, Rohit was troubled by the extra bounce. Josh Hazlewood got rid of him with a hard length delivery. He edged one to slip fielder Matt Renshaw and departed after scoring eight runs from 14 balls.