Virat Kohli trained like an Olympic athlete: Former India coach Shanker Basu

Former Indian strength and conditioning coach Shanker Basu lauded Virat Kohli for his exceptional training routine. On Monday, May 12, Kohli announced his retirement from Test cricket, drawing curtains on a legendary 14-year career in the longest format of the game.

Basu, who also worked with Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) in the Indian Premier League (IPL), described Kohli as a great student who would ask questions and always look to improve. The former also noted that Kohli trained with the dedication of an Olympic athlete.

“He is the first cricketer who decided to train like an Olympic athlete. He didn’t want to train with oft-repeated methods, he wanted to do something different. He is a very good student. He will have a lot of questions initially, and once he was convinced he will go in that direction. The sign of a good leader is that first he will turn into a role model, which Virat did with aplomb,” Basu told The Times of India (TOI).

“From there, one by one, the entire team started embracing that culture. The Indian team was an embodiment of fitness over a period. I remember a time when one of the foreign coaches came and asked one of our team members what our team was doing? Virat and the whole bunch are moving like athletes and their agility is unbelievable. But I would say all the credit goes to Virat,” he added.

Kohli stepped away from Test cricket as India’s fourth-highest run-scorer in the format after Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid and Sunil Gavaskar. He amassed 9230 runs from 123 Tests at an average of 46.85. Kohli, who continues to be one of the finest athletes in the sport, will play only the ODI format, having retired from T20Is last year.

He has been in stellar form in RCB’s IPL 2025 campaign. The 36-year-old is fourth in the list of leading run-getters this season, having scored 505 runs from 11 innings at an average of 63.13. Kohli will look to continue his rich vein of form and help RCB to win an elusive first IPL title.

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