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June 8, 2024 - 10:34 am

‘Nayari, I’ll do whatever you tell me:’ Abhishek Nayar reveals how Rohit Sharma transformed his career after 2011 World Cup snub

Rohit, during the early days, had to receive flak for his fitness.

India skipper Rohit Sharma is one of the best batters of his generation but his evolution into the Hitman has been one of the best success stories in cricket. 

Former India cricketer and current Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) assistant coach Abhishek Nayar opened up on this transformation of Rohit Sharma while speaking on the TRS podcast. 

Nayar has worked with a ‘long list’ of players for over a decade but his coaching journey began with the current Indian captain.

For the unversed, Rohit, during the early days had to receive flak for his extra pounds and despite his tremendous batting abilities, he wasn’t a part of the 2011 World Cup squad which India won. 

After the snub, Rohit decided to take matters into his own hands and start working on the roadmap to getting fitter. 

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Abhishek Nayar reveals how Rohit Sharma transformed his career

Shedding light on the matter Nayar said, “I remember there was a series in WI in 2011, and at that time, there was a visual on Aaj Tak where Rohit and Yuvi pa were being shown standing and the channel was constantly highlighting Rohit’s abdomen with an arrow. That struck Rohit, and that’s when he told me that he wants to change this perception about him. The World Cup team was also announced a few days later, and he wasn’t in the team. It was at that time that everything about Rohit changed, and he became Hitman. He worked hard and changed a lot of perceptions and opinions about him after that to become what he is today.”

Nayar further added, “When Rohit missed out on the World Cup team, at that time also many people called him things like two-minute Maggi man and all. I remember we were sitting together, and Rohit told me that ‘Nayaari, I’ll do whatever you tell me. I’ll work hard. There’s IPL in one and a half months, but when people see me there, they should say that this isn’t the Rohit Sharma we have known. This is someone else and someone better.’ People probably won’t believe it, but he worked so hard that he lost 6-8 kgs in a month and also developed a 4-pack. The way he worked hard at that time was unreal. He was determined.”

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