Cricket legend announced his retirement from Test cricket on May 12, 2025, marking an end to an unmatched legacy. But Kohli wasn’t always the Kohli we know today – at the peak of athletic fitness. The West Delhi boy carried his Delhi-ness around, ‘foodie’ being his middle name.
“Meetha khaana…(I used to eat sweets)…I used to finish two packets of 40 toffees each that were available in the hotel room’s mini bar in a week. I had no pattern of eating. I had no idea about food and drinks,” he once said.
“I used to eat everything back then, chicken fried rice was my regular with chilly chicken.”
So what brought forth the massive, massive transformation?
“It (the turnaround) happened in 2012. The lead up to the IPL 2012 was interesting because I had scored my first Test century in Australia, followed by that game against Sri Lanka in Hobart where we chased that total down within 40 overs. That came out of nowhere honestly, I did not believe I could do something like that at the international stage. It gave me so much belief.”
“And then I scored 183 against Pakistan in the Asia Cup, on a Sunday when everyone was watching. Things changed so much for me in just six months, but I forgot the basics of the game. I started getting more desperate and went too far ahead of myself.”
“I thought, this IPL I’m going to dominate everyone. But the moment IPL started, a few games which didn’t go my way and my mindset completely dropped to the other side.”
“It is not what you expect will happen. I had a string of failures. I couldn’t make runs in the first 6-7 matches. I hardly reached double figures. I got so mentally disturbed.”
“That’s when the realisation dawned on me”, he recalled.
“I came out of the shower, and I felt embarrassed looking at myself in the mirror. How can a person look like this, being an international cricketer? That was the day. Turning point. From the next day onward, sab khatam (Everything completely stopped). My total diet plan changed. I used to work out in the gym for two hours daily. I changed my diet,” Kohli said.
And the rest is history!