Peak performances in football begin years before kick-off. From Kylian Mbapp, Lionel Messi to Erling Haaland, the sport's biggest names follow ultra-disciplined routines to stay fit throughout the season.
Virat Kohli is the quintessential 'teacher's delight' but it is injury-prone Mohammed Shami, in his current fit avatar, that India's strength and conditioning coach Shankar Basu considers his biggest achievement since joining the team.
The secret to Virat Kohli's phenomenal success, says Dhruv Munjal, lies in his fitness and a tenacious urge to be the best.
'During the 2015 IPL, Kohli Sir greeted me with folded hands after I scored a 21-ball 45.' 'Everybody knows he has played many such innings, but what he was doing was motivating a 17 year old.' 'It speaks volumes of him as a captain and human being,' Sarfaraz Khan tells Aruneel Sadadekar/Rediff.com
'From the beginning (I have told her) "Whatever it may be -- you are losing or winning -- on the ground you're not going to cry!" She never cried.' '"I don't want you to project that you are a loser. You are a winner".' Vaihayasi Pande Daniel/Rediff.com speaks to Leela Raj about her famous daughter, now in the West Indies for the women's T20 World Cup.
