According to Du Plessis, talent alone will not help a young player build a long-term career in top-level sports.
Virat Kohli’s unwavering love for fitness is the secret to his longevity in top-flight cricket, and new cricketers should learn from him to establish their own careers, according to Royal Challengers Bangalore captain Faf du Plessis. During his tenure as captain, Kohli implemented a culture change in the Royal Challengers dressing room, making fitness a non-negotiable aspect of a player’s lifestyle.
“He’s terrific; he exercises hard and is incredibly fit. In today’s sports world, I believe you must act like that if you want to stay around for the long run. So he will set a good example,” Du Plessis told news sources.
Du Plessis stated that talent alone will not help a young athlete build a long-term career in a top-tier sport. “The younger generation may believe that they can just come in and rely on their talent. Yes, they have adequate talent.
“But in terms of longevity in your body to make sure you can play for as long as possible, fitness will definitely play a role,” he went on to say.
The former South African captain, who is a gym freak, said Kohli’s desire for physical conditioning was their common ground when he joined the franchise in 2022.
“There are certain aspects of the game in which Virat and I are very similar, such as how we observe or think about it. Obviously, we think about being athletic, working out hard, staying fit, and eating well.
“So, we take a holistic approach to being a professional sportsman. That’s probably why we got along so well in my first season at RCB. “We were very similar,” he stated.
Under Du Plessis, the Royal Challengers made the playoffs in 2022 after finishing sixth in the previous campaign.
Former India and RCB pacer Varun Aaron, who just announced his retirement, hoped Kohli would bat like he did in the 2016 IPL, which begins on March 22.
Kohli topped the batting charts by scoring 973 runs that season.
“I hope he regains that kind of form (2016) in this IPL. The IPL season is long, and maintaining such form requires superhuman abilities. “It was surreal to watch him bat from the sidelines that season,” Aaron remarked.
