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The importance of fitness in any sport cannot be underlined. The fitter you are the better you’ll play. Since Cricket is a team sport, all of the players are required to be in action. From a T20 game that is played for 3 hours to an International Test Match that stretches to 5 days, the game requires a high level of fitness for a professional player to perform effectively.

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Each position has specific physical requirement, but in general the most ‘fittest’ player in a cricket game is undoubtedly the wicket-keeper. Chirping and hoping behind the stumps, a wicket-keeper has to continuously stand on his toes. A wicket-keeper displays phenomenal level of physicality. 

Fit Cricketers

Here are some of Cricket’s Fittest personalities

SIR GARY SOBERS — It was not just fielding; Sir Gary Sobers was perfect in everything he did on a cricket field. Probably that’s why he got ‘Sir’ title. His 6 feet tall nimble body perfectly complimented his athletic skills and the West Indian never ever disappointed his team mates. His excellent level of fitness helped him play a number of sports- golf, soccer and basketball for Barbados.

ANDREW SYMONDS - Andrew Symonds fitness mantra was just like his career graph- ‘too fast, too much’. He could change the course of the game with his dedicated fielding. With his ungainly bulk and muscle power, he stood in the way of boundaries. Despite of his drinking habits, Symonds managed to maintain his fitness levels.

JONTY RHODES - He was the person who single-handedly redefined the art of fielding. He started his career with an illustrious catch of Inzamam-ul-Haq in the 1992 World Cup and just built up on his skills. Jonty Rhodes became a role model not only for his fellow South Africans, but also to modern cricketers across the world. His body was always ready to take up the extreme and his on-field sharp reflexes hardly missed any ball that came his way. He was one of a kind cricketer in terms of fitness quotient.

MOHAMMAD KAIF - Mohammed Kaif stretched the limits of commitment, dedication and performance on the back of his superb athletics skills. His top notch acrobatics made him shine in an already star studded Indian line-up. He threw himself around the field like no one, and not caring about injury. He would sprint around; cover maximum ground in minimum time before attempting that salmon dive to grab the balls. He was known more for his fielding than for his batting miracles.

VIRAT KOHLI - Virat Kohli is hard to beat when it comes to fitness. The 25 year old middle order batsman puts in lots of hard work to maintain his super tough body. He goes to gym 5 times a week and does a combination of weight training and cardio exercises. He never forgets to do core exercises like the bench press, dumbbell press and biceps curl. A very important thing is that Kohli manages to do is to eat well. Once on a tour, a restaurant manager said "Of all the Indian players who have been visiting our two restaurants, Kohli has been having the healthiest food and those are some of the most expensive dishes available at our restaurants”.

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Related Pages

• The ESPN Sport Science poll to determine the Greatest Athlete of All Time.
• Our discussion of the greatest ever cricket player.
• More about the sport of cricket