Virat Kohli has set the fitness standard: John Gloster

Australian physio John Gloster is the man credited with heralding a new era of fitness regime in the Indian cricket team after his appointment back in 2005. The foundation laid down by John Gloster proved to be the fillip that Team India needed to reach the level of world-class performers today.

John Gloster, who is currently the head physio of the Rajasthan Royals franchise, believes Indian skipper Virat Kohli has set the benchmark which others have to follow.

The former physio of the Indian cricket team believes fitness is a ‘non-negotiable’ aspect when it comes of modern-day international cricket.

“The good thing about Virat Kohli is that he is fitness conscious. The way he trains isn’t like how everyone else trains. Everybody has to train individually,” John Gloster was quoted as saying by New Indian Express.

“Fitness is non-negotiable in the modern game of cricket. Virat has set the standard and if you want to compete on the international stage, you have to be fit,” John Gloster added.

While he might not have worked closely with Virat Kohli, John Gloster’s stint with Rajasthan Royals puts him in close touch with compatriot Steve Smith.

Former Australian skipper Steve Smith has an excellent record in all formats of the game, especially Test cricket. After 73 Tests, Steve Smith averages 62.24 with 7227 runs which include 26 hundreds and 29 fifties. In ODI cricket, Steve Smith is equally impressive with 4162 runs at an average of 42.46 with nine hundreds.

“Steve is a natural athlete. He has a solid foundation on fitness and he works on that. He is also a smart trainer. He understands that each format of the game requires a particular workload and works accordingly,” John Gloster said about Steve Smith.

The Rajasthan Royals head physio now has to get his team ready for 13th edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) which is all set to take place in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) between September 19th and November 8th.

John Gloster opines a minimum of two weeks of preparation would be good for RR

John Gloster believes that a minimum of ‘two weeks’ as a combined group will be good for the Rajasthan Royals franchise. The Australian believed that the safety of the players and tge support staff would be paramount with IPL-13 happening in the backdrop of the coronavirus pandemic.

John Gloster also said that the fitness of the players depended on what they were doing during the lockdown. As there was less restrictions in some places, John Gloster believes that some of the players in the Rajasthan Royals squad were able to train or bowl outside while in other places like Bengaluru, players have gotten very little opportunity to do much training.