I Used to Feel Ashamed of Myself Seeing Virat Kohli Train, Says Tamim Iqbal

Indian captain Virat Kohli leads the team from the front - be it with batting or fitness. He is considered the one who brought the change in the fitness in the entire team. His fitness not only impress fans but also the cricketers and one of them is Bangladesh batsman Tamim Iqbal who said Kohli's effect has reached outside India as well.

"I must say this. This is not because I am talking to an Indian commentator, who is an ex-cricketer. I think because India is our neighbour country, we follow a lot of things about what's happening in India. As soon as India started to change regarding fitness, that impacted Bangladesh the most," Tamim said to former Indian player and commentator Sanjay Manjrekar for ESPNcricinfo's Videocast.

Both Tamim and Kohli are of the same age, 31, and he said that he used to feel "ashamed" when he saw Kohli's training.

He recalled, "I have no shame to tell you this, I think this should be out, when I used to see Virat Kohli, two-three years back, doing all those gym things and running around, I used to be ashamed of myself. Honestly, I used to be ashamed of myself"

While seeing Kohli, he used to think that despite being the same age, Kohli has been doing double what he used to do. He even admitted that he can't match his level but wants to follow his path and also to reach 50-60 per cent of the Indian captain in this matter.

The left-handed batsman also said that his mindset towards fitness was wrong and it took a long for him to understand how important the physical part of the game is. He also added that the players only got to understand that they need to be fit since the last 3-4 years. Even he also shared that he used to think only scoring runs matter and nothing else. He also praised batsman Mushfiqur Rahim for his fitness.

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