April 18, 2020 marks 12 years to the first-ever IPL match, played between Kolkata Knight Riders and Royal Challengers Bangalore. While the match is best remembered for Brendon McCullum's incredible innings of 158* -- which is still regarded as one of the best knocks in tournament's history -- the game also saw the arrival of a young Virat Kohli, who represented RCB.
On Saturday, the Royal Challengers Bangalore, on their official Twitter profile, shared a picture of Virat Kohli playing in his first IPL match. And the batsman is almost unrecognizable.
To think that the player in the picture would go on to become a fitness icon in the sporting world is almost beyond belief. And so, the picture also speaks volume about the incredible transformation Virat Kohli has made throughout the years.
Virat, who was 19 at the time, had lifted the U-19 World Cup title a month ago and was knocking the doors of India's senior team. He eventually made his international debut in August in the same year.
In an interview with American journalist Graham Bensinger, however, the now-Indian captain revealed that it took him four years after his senior debut to realise that he had to work tremendously on his fitness to adhere to the demands of the dynamic nature of the sport.
“I was playing in the Indian team and in the IPL but the 2012 season of the IPL was very bad for me. My eating habits were horrible at that time. I remember coming back home, coming out of the shower and looking at myself in the mirror and feeling disgusted," said Virat.
"I thought to myself: ‘You can’t look like that if you’re an international cricketer. How are you going to continue like this if you don’t take care of yourself’.
“And boom, from the next day itself, I changed everything about my diet. I started hitting the gym two times a day and kept away from junk food and had no cheat days at all.
"Within 8-10 months I lost six to seven kgs and then it became such an addiction because I could see the results on the field. I felt quicker, I felt lighter, I felt more focused and I realised that this is the path I wanted to take," revealed Kohli.
Today, Virat Kohli is not only considered as one of the modern-day greats, but also serves as an inspiration to fans, as well as his own teammates. Jaydev Unadkat, who recently played a key role in Saurashtra's Ranji Trophy win last month, revealed that Virat Kohli's journey to fitness transformation inspired him.
"It was actually the Virat story that inspired me. With the exemplary skills that he has, if he still thought he needed to get fitter then we are nothing in front of him,” Unadkat had said.
“I thought cricket was a skill game but I was totally wrong. Cricket is a skill game which needs a lot of fitness because if you are fit, you can perform well under pressure, especially when your body is tired."
