‘Run machine’ Kohli reflects on his road to fitness

New Delhi : India Test captain Virat Kohli, who is arguably the fittest player in the team, has revealed how opting a healthy lifestyle has helped him become one of the finest batsmen of the current generation.Kohli was speaking at the launch of Stepathlon Kids aiming at building children’s holistic health in the country and encouraging physical activity and educating kids on nutrition, exercise, stress and much more.Reflecting on his road to fitness, the swashbuckling batsman said that he always wanted to be the best player in the world and for that he had decided to lead a healthy life.”There was a time when I was not happy with my own fitness. It was after the 2012 IPL. Till then I was not as focused on my physical aspect and never used to go into minute details like what I need to do from morning to night. How much I need to work out. How much I have done yesterday. How much I need to do today. I never listened to my body. After that IPL, I made a lifestyle choice,” the 27-year-old said.”I wanted to explore a new side of me, which will take me to the level where I wanted to be. I never wanted to be average. I wanted to be among the best in the world. I wanted to compete. I wanted to be among the players that other teams want to get rid of. So, I always had that mindset, but I never had the motivation initially to understand how much importance physical strength and fitness holds in my sport. It started off as something that is required for my sport, but now it is a lifestyle choice for me. Even when I don’t play or even during my off time I don’t eat unhealthy food,” he added.