Bengaluru: Indian cricket Test captain Virat Kohli and ace women's tennis star Sania Mirza on Saturday advised sportspersons not to eat junk food to stay fit. "As a sportsperson, I am very cautious of what I eat. I advise sports enthusiasts not to eat KFC, don’t drink unhealthy liquids and chocolates, basically everything which tastes well. Say no to junk food, stay away from KFC," Kohli said during the launch of the biggest brand centre of Adidas in India here.
Virat Kohli and Sania Mirza share a lighter moment during a promotional event.
"I also don't eat KFC," Sania added.
Kohli said people should also understand the sacrifices made by the sportspersons in their career and should not criticise them during their failures. "It is not all about staying fit but also it is about understanding the sacrifices made by the sportspersons to remain on top. People should understand this before they criticise them for failures. They should understand the discipline they follow for 20-long years to remain the best," Kohli said.
(L-R) Cricketer KL Rahul, Sania Mirza, Virat Kohli and squash player Sourav Ghoshal at the event.
Sania said she used to train for six-and-a-half hours when she was 12 years and had just signed up with Adidas, but now she is not able to train that much because of ageing.
"At twelve, when I signed for Adidas, I was training six hours a day. Obviously now I am older and my joints are, you know, a kind of - I have undergone three surgeries. Now I can't train for six hours. But still I try to train for four and half hours every day in the off-season," she said.
Earlier in the day, Team India’s Test skipper said it's a "surreal feeling" as he looks back at his sensational journey in international cricket, which started with the ICC under-19 World Cup triumph, way back in 2008 in Malaysia.
"If you honestly ask me, I have never thought of these. Sometimes I sit in my room all by myself and just think everything that happened in the past seven years. It feels surreal," Kohli said.
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"The people that I have been able to play with, the moments I have been able to share with the team and now getting the Test captaincy, something that I never imagined. This is a lesson for me. If you work hard, if you are grateful for what you have in life, God will bless you with more," he told NDTV.
Asked whether he is nervous about leading the Test side in the upcoming series against South Africa, Kohli said: "Not at all. It's not different from anything that I did in the past. We will prepare the same way and approach the series in the same kind of mindset."
Kohli also refused to pinpoint any particular player from the South African team that the hosts are giving special emphasis on. "Everyone is a strong player and you can't really point anyone out. The whole team has to be respected in the same way," he said.
