Despite battling lean batting form, Virat Kohli remains an icon for many. The fact that Kohli is highly admired by his peers, especially youngsters can be seen everytime the Royal Challengers Bangalore play a match in the IPL 2022. After the match, Kohli can be seen talking to youngsters or the next day, players from the opposition post a picture with the former RCB captain on Instagram, where they appear ‘highly enlightened’. Such is Kohli’s aura. (Also Read: Watch – Riyan Parag takes cheeky dig at 3rd umpire with catch celebration, leaves commentators miffed)
Among those to have gotten inspired by Kohli is Gujarat Titans youngster B Sai Sudarshan. He has scored 145 runs from five matches this season with a best of 65 not out against Punjab Kings. And like most of the youngsters setting the IPL on fire. Sudarshan has paid keen focus on fitness, for which Kohli had a role to play, reveals Sai’s mother, who is a strength and conditioning coach.
“A lot of young kids have this mindset, ‘I just want to get my turn to bat,'” Usha told ESPNCricinfo. “Sai was similar during his early years and then he changed himself. He watched a lot of videos of Virat Kohli. Kohli said that his fitness gives him a lot of confidence. After that, he started training seriously with me. During the pandemic, he worked hard on his fitness, and during these two years, he used to chew my ear off, asking, ‘Why do we train like this? Why don’t we train that way? What benefit does it bring?’ He used to ask a lot of questions.”
Sudarshan made headlines during the 2021 TNPL, where he emerged as the second-highest run-getter scoring 358 runs for Lyca Kovai Kings. His effort helped him bag a place in the Tamil Nadu’s squads for the Vijay Hazare Trophy, Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy and the Ranji Trophy. This year, after all-rounder Vijay Shankar was ruled out due to a back spasm, Sudarshan made his IPL debut for the Titans against Punjab Kings and scored an impressive 35.
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