Nowadays, fitness has become more than a crucial facet in cricket. Cricketers or athletes, in general, show high concerns over their fitness in order to prolong their careers at the international level. There has been a general trend that has been observed even in Indian cricket where players are more fitter and prepare to give more than their 100% on the field.
Indian skipper Virat Kohli has led from the front in changing India’s perception about fitness. However, there have been times in the past when fitness for cricketers was not given the utmost priority. As a result, players resorted to bad eating habits, paying no heed to their physique. While fitness is now prioritised in Indian cricket, we take a look at 5 Indian cricketers who have been spotted smoking and consuming alcohol in the past:
1. Virat Kohli
Virat Kohli, who’s probably the fittest Indian cricketer, was on occasions spotted smoking in parties and other functions in the past. It was after a mediocre IPL 2012 when Kohli realized the need for adopting a healthy regime. As a result, he decided to bring a change in his eating habits in order to survive in all forms of the game. However, before 2012, on a couple of occasions, Kohli himself was seen consuming alcohol during IPL parties.
2. Sachin Tendulkar
A name that might surprise most of you, even Sachin Tendulkar was once spotted consuming alcohol with his close friend Vinod Kambli. It was during the early stages of his career when the ‘Master Blaster’ was seen sharing a beer with Kambli. However, while he was one of the most focused cricketers in the Indian team, he agreed to consume it as one of the ways to relax off cricket.
3. Yuvraj Singh:
During his playing career, there were a many times when Yuvraj Singh was seen partying with his close friends and relatives. Once, he was spotted with a glass of alcohol in a party involving some of the superstars from the Bollywood. While he happens to be one of India’s greatest ever ODI players, Singh saw his name being dragged some of the controversies based on his off-field behaviour.
4. Ishant Sharma:
A formidable part of India’s pace battery, Ishant Sharma’s arrival at the international scene was marked by his spell to Ricky Ponting in 2008. While he continued to be a part of India’s Test squad, Ishant faced the axe from the limited-overs setup. In 2015, Sharma hogged the limelight after he got involved in an off-field controversy. It was during a party at one of the clubs in Sydney where the fast bowler was seen consuming the alcohol. He was seen alongside his teammates Suresh Raina and Bhuvneshwar Kumar. It was an image that went viral all over social media.
5. KL Rahul:
One of India’s most prolific run-scorer in the limited-overs format, KL Rahul has come a long way in his international career. However, Karnataka-player has been involved in quite many off-field issues. It was during India’s tour to West Indies when Rahul himself shared a post over Social media where he was seen with a beer bottle. His image received a lot of backlash before BCCI asked him to remove the post.
