6 Cricketers who underwent amazing body transformation

The physical aspect of the sport was not taken seriously by most cricketers for a long period of time. But with the game escalating its demands with the emergence of new formats and dimensions, they have no other choice but to be fitter than ever before. Cricket is a way different game than what it was even two decades ago. While a lot of cricketers had to go through some major physical transformation to keep themselves relevant in this vastly challenging world, not everyone succeeded in their eventual endeavor. All the hard yards they traveled to get themselves into a physical state of brilliance didn’t go unnoticed though. Here are six cricketers who went through some amazing body transformations: 1. S Sreesanth (IND): A name which will be written in dark and not so colorful letters in Indian cricket history, Shantakumaran Sreesanth could never amend for the apparent crimes he committed. Hailed as one of the finest talents a decade ago, once Sreesanth was banned by the BCCI for allegedly getting involved in spot-fixing, he was never found playing professional cricket. He tried to do a lot of things during these years like acting in movies, entering politics and also appearing in the reality show Big Boss. Although he tried to make his way back in cricket through some tournaments in associate cricketing nations like Scotland, he never got the NOC from BCCI. He’s been working very hard on keeping himself fit and to an extent that he now looks like a beast ready to go hunting without any weapons. Sreesanth’s amazing body transformation has left everyone gazing at him and although the chances of him getting back in international cricket are very remote, he’s still pushing hard. 2. Chris Tremlett (ENG): One of the tallest individuals to have played international cricket, Chris Tremlett had a terrific beginning to his English career. Unfortunately for him, he could play just 12 Tests, 15 ODIs and one T20I for the national side before he was sidelined due to injuries and a stretch of inconsistent performances. The 6-foot 7-inch fast bowler moved from Hampshire to Surrey in the English County but his career never elevated the way he would’ve wanted. He last played a professional game in 2015 for Surrey. After that, he’s been busy making himself a bodybuilder and has been spending a lot of time in the gym. He also took up weightlifting as a profession and shared a picture on Instagram which made the cricketing universe pop their eyes out of surprise. The tall lanky fast bowler transformed himself into a gigantic bodybuilder and the 38-year-old’s following on Instagram only kept growing since then. 3. David Lawrence (ENG) Appearing in five Tests and one ODI for England, David Lawrence’s cricketing career was cut short by a horrendous injury. The Gloucester-born cricketer played for Gloucestershire in his county cricketer before making his international debut in 1988. The fast bowler suffered a horrendous knee injury due to which he called time on his career. But life had something else planned for him and opened another door. He started taking bodybuilding seriously and wanted to participate at the highest level possible in this sport. It took some time for him to get to a very professional level, but he eventually did get there. He participated in the National Amateur Body Building Association’s West of England for the over-40s and won the championship in 2014. He went viral on social media, who were mesmerized by his inspiring growth over the period of two decades. 4. Chris Gayle (WI) In his early days, Chris Gayle was just a talented skinny cricketer blessed with a great height. Despite not having strong muscles and a physique worth noticing, Gayle’s incredible hitting-prowess made him one of the superstars of the game in not a long period of time. But with time passing by, Gayle had to concentrate harder on his fitness as injuries kept jolting his progress. Although he could never be the quickest between the wickets, he did manage to make a body which helped him survive in the game for a time longer than most imagined. Although it might not appear very clearly for those who haven’t seen his old pictures, Gayle has gone through an amazing body transformation in the last 10 years. The Universe Boss went past Brian Lara to become the highest run-scorer for Windies in ODIs in the recently concluded series against India. 5. Virat Kohli (IND) Not as much as the other four, but the transformation Indian skipper Virat Kohli has gone through over the last 12-14 years is nothing beyond astonishing. The 30-year-old was a chubby young kid when he first appeared in the First-class level and not one could’ve predicted his growth from there perfectly. Going forward, Kohli started working relentlessly on his fitness with specialized diets and almost a 3-4 hour session every day in the gym. The only active cricketer with more than 10,000 runs in ODIs alongside MS Dhoni, Kohli has already achieved numbers which make experts compare him to some of the greatest of all time. Kohli keeps sharing his pictures from the gym on his Instagram handle and makes everyone drool at him. He’s one of the fittest and hard-working cricketers the sport has ever seen and he serves as a perfect example for kids to show where untethered dedication can take them. 6. Maheesh Theekshana (SL) Sri Lanka spinner Maheesh Theekshana is also a part of a stunning body transformation over the years. He used to weigh around 117 kg during his U19 times in 2017-18 and also missed a few matches for failing fitness tests on multiple occasions. When he realised that the importance of fitness in his cricket career, Theekshana followed strict diet and also started working out hard in gym. He cut off rice from diet completely and also stopped eating fish and snacks. By 2020, Theekshana was one of the fittest cricketers in Sri Lanka with his Yo-Yo test score from 16.1 to 19.2. He also dropped his two-km sprint time to 8.28 mins from 10.28 minutes. Currently, he is Sri Lanka's premier spinner in the limited-overs format and also represents Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in the Indian Premier League (IPL).

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6 Cricketers who underwent amazing body transformation

All the hard yards some of these cricketers travelled to get themselves into a physical state of brilliance didn't go unnoticed though.

6. Maheesh Theekshana (SL)

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