MS Dhoni gave up on his favourite food to get fitter after Test retirement

The currently accepted mantra of top performance in the Indian cricket team is to maintain prime fitness and the two components of fitness are diet and workout. There is a designated individual to take care of the off-field training regime of the team and players like Virat Kohli follow a certain structured diet as well. The players just don’t indulge in anything that tastes good but are conscious about what it does to their body.

One of the fittest players in the team is 36-year-old MS Dhoni. He retired from Test cricket in December 2014 but remains a key player in the limited-overs squad. His recent outing as the captain and finisher with the Chennai Super Kings has further elevated his stature despite a lot of competition from the young players. Dhoni runs really fast between the wickets and in the field, at the same time he has really sharp reflexes and all that contributes in making him an extremely dangerous cricketer even at this age.

Dhoni’s favourite food

To improve his fitness Dhoni has had to make changes in his diet and lifestyle. After his Test retirement, with more time in hand, he spends additional hours in the gym and looks a lot fitter than he was before. He had to give up on his love for butter chicken and naan, chocolates and milkshakes along with soft drinks to get where he is today. The Jharkhand-lad eats healthy food now and that keeps him fit.

“Yes the food habits have changed. When I made my debut, it used to be butter chicken, naan and milkshakes with lots of chocolates and soft drinks. Once I turned 28, the chocolate was off, the milk shake was off. After (quitting) Test cricket, all the healthy food came in. The breads, the kebabs all those things came in,” Dhoni said at an event in Mumbai.

Gym only during breaks

He works out in the gym to improve his endurance and gain strength but only when there is little cricketing pressure. To balance the workload on his body he doesn’t hit the gym during the Indian Premier League (IPL) or amidst a series but only when there are gaps.

“I realised I am also slightly different. I need to understand my body. This year I started gyming. But not all the time. Once the IPL started, I was not in the gym anymore,” he said.

According to the former Indian captain, 80% of your fitness depends on your diet and the remaining 20% on the training.

“I just did some rowing. In Chennai, I had a rowing machine in the room. After breakfast, I’d start rowing. It was more functional for me. When I am playing cricket, I don’t want to do a lot of gym. In between the two series when there is a break, I hit the gym now. Eighty per cent of how you want to be or what you want to be is because of food; Twenty per cent is because of training,” MS Dhoni added.

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