India’s former strength and conditioning coach Shankar Basu has showered praise on Virat Kohli’s fitness level after batter’s Test retirement. Basu said Kohli was the first cricketer who started to train like an Olympic athlete. The former coach termed Kohli as a very good student and said the veteran always asked the right questions before moving forward.

Kohli amassed 9230 runs in 123 Test matches at an average of 46.85, including 30 centuries. Since 2012, Kohli has maintained a high level of fitness and Basu also played a key role in guiding the former Indian captain on the right path.

Shankar Basu said while talking to Times of India, “He is the first cricketer who decided to train like an Olympic athlete. He didn’t want to train with oft-repeated methods, he wanted to do something different. He is a very good student. He will have a lot of questions initially, and once he was convinced he will go in that direction. The sign of a good leader is that first he will turn into a role model, which Virat did with aplomb.”

Basu recalled that the whole team started to follow Virat Kohli’s fitness footsteps as he inspired his teammates.

“From there, one by one, the entire team started embracing that culture. The Indian team was an embodiment of fitness over a period. I remember a time when one of the foreign coaches came and asked one of our team members what our team was doing? Virat and the whole bunch are moving like athletes and their agility is unbelievable. But I would say all the credit goes to Virat,” Basu added.

The former RCB coach compared Kohli with world-class athletes like Cristiano Ronaldo, Usain Bolt and LeBron James.

“I always make a comparison of Virat Kohli, Cristiano Ronaldo, LeBron James, Usain Bolt. He falls in the same league with regards to passion, excellence. Don’t think he will be happy with a world record; if he has established one, he will try and break that. He is a once in a 100 years guy,” Basu said.

Kohli will be seen in action in IPL 2025, which will resume on May 17.