Paddy Upton, the former Team India mental conditioning coach, reckons that the Indian skipper, Virat Kohli witnessed a turn in his career after realizing his flawed fitness regime. After the 2014-15 season, the current Indian skipper pulled up his socks and kept raising the benchmarks of fitness. It was the same period when Virat had witnessed a forgettable outing in the Test series in England.

Kohli, with the help of Shankar Basu, changed his diet and started taking his fitness seriously. Upton, who was a part of the Men in Blue staff in the 2011 World Cup, reckoned that the change in attitude helped Virat channelize his talent in the right direction.

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Talking to Times of India about the same, Upton said, “I’m guessing one of the turning points came when Virat realized he was slightly overweight and only averagely fit, and that if he wanted to be one of the best in the world, he needed to also be one of the physically fittest in the world. This change in attitude around his fitness, was one of the turning points and taking him from a highly talented cricketer who was cruising along, to a highly talented cricketer who was genuinely delivering on his talent.”

By the end of 2104, Kohli had emerged as the Test captain as MS Dhoni decided to hang his boots from the longest format following the Melbourne Test. At the start of 2017 during India’s series against England, Virat also became the Indian skipper in the limited over cricket.

Ever since Kohli has never looked back and has only grown in stature. In fact, the leadership mantle rubbed off positively on his batting. Last year, Virat also became India’s most successful Test captain during the away series against the West Indies.

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Virat also guided India to the semi-final of the 2019 World Cup where they lost to New Zealand at the Old Trafford in Manchester. He is also one of the most popular cricketers in the IPL, leading the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB).