India batting great Rohit Sharma's transformation is one of the main talking points before his ODI comeback in Australia. Rohit, who failed to perform against Australia in the first ODI in Perth, but the former captain, 38, has given himself the best possible chance to realise his dream of playing on until the 2027 ODI World Cup.
Rohit, who faced a lot of criticism on a picture of him that got viral on social media, surprised everyone with this new lean and fit look. Former India assistant coach Abhishek Nayar played a crucial role in Rohit's gruelling training sessions in Mumbai to get him prepared for the ODI return.
Nayar on Rohit's workout routine
After Rohit's dismissal on just eight runs in 1st ODI, Nayar reflected on how the former skipper trained like a bodybuilder to lose 11 kilograms through a meticulously planned training regime in Mumbai that lasted eight weeks before they shifted focus to skill work. Nayar revealed that Rohit used to do 700-800 repetitions for each muscle group as they focused on shedding weight before beginning skill training. Rohit played his first competitive match in four months, returning to international cricket after nearly seven months.
"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 on Jio Cinema.
"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.
Rohit Sharma left Vadapav
Nayar also said that Rohit displayed excellent self-discipline when it came to eating the right foods during the three-month training sessions; he even ignored some of his favourite snacks, including vadapav.
"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, hardcore training," he added.