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Virat Kohli, the iconic Indian batter and longtime Royal Challengers Bengaluru star, recently praised the incredible fitness levels of Indian hockey players, admitting that cricketers are nowhere close to matching the physical standards required in hockey. His remarks have sparked widespread appreciation within the Indian hockey community, with players calling it valuable recognition for the sport’s demanding nature.Speaking during the third edition of the RCB Innovation Lab Indian Sports Summit on Tuesday, Kohli reflected on the importance of fitness in professional sport and explained why he believes fitness should be viewed as a basic requirement rather than something extraordinary.“I know people sometimes look at fitness as something extraordinary, but for me it’s simply what the job demands. It should be the norm, not something celebrated as special,” Kohli said.“Cricket is in such prime focus in our country that we often overlook other sports,” he added. Kohli then made a striking comparison between cricket and hockey, admitting that Indian hockey players operate at a completely different physical level.“If I’m being brutally honest, we are not even 15% of the fitness of an Indian hockey player. If hockey players watched our training sessions, they’d probably laugh because their sport demands far more physically,” Kohli remarked.Reacting to Kohli’s remarks, Harmanpreet Singh, captain of the Indian men’s hockey team, revealed details of a recent interaction he had with the cricket superstar regarding training and fitness standards in hockey.“We had a great conversation around fitness not too long ago at an event. He told me hockey is such a fast sport and was curious to know about our fitness benchmarks. We spoke about the yo-yo test and when I told him that even our goalkeepers score above 20, he was genuinely surprised. We had a wonderful discussion and shared experiences around training and fitness. I am grateful that someone like Virat Kohli brought attention to the fitness standards of hockey players because ours is one of the fastest and most physically demanding sports in the world. Recognition like this means a lot to the hockey community,” Harmanpreet said.
