Bangladesh ODI Captain Tamim Iqbal Was ‘Ashamed Of Himself’ After Seeing Virat Kohli’s Fitness Levels

The 31-year-old Tamim said he was in awe of Kohli's focus towards fitness despite both cricketers being on the same side of age.

Newly-appointed Bangladesh ODI captain Tamim Iqbal has no qualms in admitting that Bangladesh cricketers closely follow their neighbours India when it comes to the style of playing cricket. Tamim was handed over the captaincy duties of Bangladesh’s ODI side after Mashrafe Bin Mortaza stepped down from the role. In a freewheeling chat with former Indian cricketer-turned commentator Sanjay Manjrekar, Tamim made some honest revelation and stated that he was ashamed of himself after seeing the training regime of Indian skipper Virat Kohli.

The 31-year-old opener said that the incident happened two-three years back as he thought to himself that why he cannot do the same even when he is the same age as Kohli. “I must say this, it is not because I am talking to an Indian commentator, India is our neighbour so whatever things they do, it affects Bangladesh as well.”

“We follow what is happening in India and when India changed its approach towards fitness, it impacted Bangladesh the most,” Iqbal told Manjrekar during a videocast on ESPNCricinfo.

“I have no shame in admitting this, when I saw Virat Kohli running around two-three years ago, I was ashamed of myself, I thought this is a guy who is probably my age, but he is training so much and I have not done even half of it. We have a great example in our team as well, Mushfiqur Rahim manages himself well regarding fitness,” he added.

Kohli, who first hogged the limelight after leading India to the U19 World Cup title in 2008, was a lot different from the current version. The Indian captain has time again stated that he didn’t take fitness that seriously at the start of his career but later on it became an integral part of his life.

But in 2013, Kohli made a consious effort and shifted his focus to fitness, diet, and training. Now he has become punctual about his diet which has given him a different character on and off the field.

The comparisons between Kohli and Sachin Tendulkar have also kept on growing and many have picked the current Indian skipper to break the records set by Tendulkar.

‘God of Cricket’ – Tendulkar called time on his illustrious career after registering 100 international centuries, while Kohli currently has 70 centuries across all formats.

Currently, Kohli is ranked at the top spot in the ICC ODI rankings while he is in the second place in Tests rankings.