MS Dhoni vs Virat Kohli: Dynamic duo's paths to fitness success despite 8-year age gap

Indian cricket captain Virat Kohli is widely recognised among one of the greatest modern-day batsmen in the world. Apart from striking blazing centuries and earning laurels for his many match-winning knocks, the 31-year-old is also an agile fielder and one of the fittest cricketers around. On the other hand, his teammate and former captain MS Dhoni is just days away from celebrating his 39th birthday. While he last represented India during the 2019 World Cup in England, the veteran wicketkeeper-batsman was still seen sprinting between-the-wickets while his ‘lightning-quick’ persona behind the stumps has overall remained the same as seen during his early years in the sport.

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Virat Kohli and MS Dhoni: The fitness pioneers of modern-day Indian cricket

In an earlier interview, Virat Kohli stated that he started taking care of his fitness around 2012 to improve his speed and to lead Team India by example. Moreover, even during the ongoing coronavirus-induced India lockdown, the No.1 ranked ODI batsman continues to inspire his followers and teammates by living a healthy lifestyle. As per his updates on social media, Virat Kohli can often be seen taking to the gym for performing workout sessions.

Virat Kohli workout, watch video

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Virat Kohli diet

Virat Kohli also maintains a focus on his diet and quite recently, he credited his wife, Bollywood actor Anushka Sharma, for bringing about a change in his eating habits. During an interaction with Vogue India, he said that he decided to ditch eating meat and has been a vegetarian for the last two years. He stated that his wife’s love and compassion for animals is something that made him “look at things differently”. Virat Kohli also cited “health reasons” behind his dietary change.

In an Instagram live chat with Kevin Pietersen, Kohli claimed that the reason mainly was that his body had become acidic by the start of 2018, which could have caused him more fitness and health issues in the future. As a result, he took up the diet, more so in the 2019 World Cup and claimed in an interview with Graham Bensinger that he never felt better while playing as he could recover quickly between the short span of matches. In a recent chat with Sunil Chhetri, Kohli also revealed that his favourite 'cheat meals' would include Delhi's famous Chole Bhature and Rajma chawal.

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MS Dhoni led the way for India on the field with fitness made into top priority

Meanwhile, MS Dhoni, a fitness enthusiast himself, is known for following a disciplined routine and an active lifestyle. Although Dhoni is known for his love for chicken biryani and butter chicken and a lack of fondness to go to the gym, he surprises many with his running between the wickets and agility behind the stumps even at the age of 38.

Such is his ability that he is a quicker runner than most of his younger teammates in the team. To cite a perfect example for the same, MS Dhoni defeated Indian all-rounder Hardik Pandya in a friendly race during one of the practise session in 2017. The veteran wicketkeeper-batsman was 36 at the time while Pandya was only 24. 

Moreover, MS Dhoni’s Indian Premier League (IPL) teammate Dwayne Bravo also revealed a similar feat achieved by the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) captain. In the live session with CSK earlier this year, Bravo revealed that he and MS Dhoni were famously involved in a challenge for a race “between the wickets” after the final of IPL 2018. The West Indies all-rounder admitted to losing the race and the video went viral on social media.

In fact, in one of India's practice sessions two years ago in which the beep and yo-yo tests were taken, Dhoni was said to be the second fastest runner in the Indian team, coming only behind Manish Pandey and beating even captain Virat Kohli in the same, as per reports.

In MS Dhoni's 2016 biopic, the late Sushant Singh Rajput, who essayed Dhoni's character in the film nearly to perfection, was involved in a scene in which it was believed that the Indian captain played a massive role in removing Sourav Ganguly and Rahul Dravid from the ODI team in early 2008 ahead of a tri-series with the then world champions Australia, citing 'lack of fitness' in the shorter format of the game between them. 

Once that move gave the Indian team success, Dhoni publicly declared his desire five years later ahead of the ICC Champions Trophy that he wants to make India the best fielding side in the world, something unheard of earlier. India went on to win that tournament primarily because of their fielding, according to Virat Kohli himself in a 2017 interview on the Breakfast of Champions.

MS Dhoni’s sprint with CSK teammate Dwayne Bravo, watch video

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Image credits: BCCI Twitter