‘Bring Fat Percentage Down to 10‘: Former India S&C Coach Reveals Sachin Tendulkar’s Goal Before 2011 World Cup | Exclusive

Five ODI World Cups (1992, 1996, 1999, 2003 and 2007) and the wait to get his hands on the coveted trophy continued for Sachin Tendulkar. The Men in Blue got close in 2003 when they lost to Australia in the final and the 2011 edition, at home, presented an opportunity for the Little Master to end the wait. The then 37-year-old had the target locked and commenced preparations well in advance for the multi-nation event.

The first goal was to bring his fat percentage down before the tournament got underway and then maintain it. In an exclusive conversation with News18 CricketNext, former India Strength & Conditioning Coach Ramji Srinivasan, reveals Sachin achieved the 10% fat percentage goal well before the World Cup and didn’t let the reading change.

Also Read: The Sachin Tendulkar Interview, Part 1

“Sachin had a goal. He wanted his fat percentage to be 10. It was around 13 or 14, he wanted to bring it down to 10 during World Cup. A lower fat percentage is better. More muscle and less fat bring out the best in you. Extra fat is like carrying a couple of sacks of potatoes around your midsection and doing running and workouts. It hampers the movements. In Chandigarh, before the World Cup, I remember he achieved that and maintained it throughout the World Cup. I still have all that data," says Ramji.

The S&C coach, who worked a lot with Tendulkar during his four-year tenure with the Indian cricket team, added the entire team had one goal in mind before the World Cup got underway and that was to win the tournament for Sachin. Every member of the team worked really hard off the field to remain injury free and 12 years later, he is still proud to have no fitness-related injury during the tournament. Ramji used to draw a lot of inspiration from Sachin as the Master Blaster featured in the top five of the weekly logs they maintained in build-up to the World Cup.

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“Sachin has always been special for anybody, I am no exception. I used to get a lot of inspiration by looking at him. I used to learn a lot from him and draw inspiration to do a lot of new things. Coming back to the 2011 World Cup, the entire team started to prepare one year ahead. It happened during the tour of Sri Lanka when the entire thing – the diet regime to weekly logs. We used to have a fitness log every week and Sachin used to be in the top five always. All parameters – skill, workout in the gym, sprints – were taken into consideration and points were given accordingly. Everybody was on the same page when it came to fitness and lifestyle changes and everybody had one goal – to win the World Cup for Sachin," says Ramji.

‘Sachin likes to do sprints’

Sachin took his fitness very seriously and loved his sessions in the gym. According to Ramji, the classy right-hander wasn’t heavy on long runs but loved sprinting. They weren’t usual shuttle sprints but explosive sprints with entire gear – bat, pads, gloves – on.

“Sachin likes to go to the gym and he likes to do sprints, a lot of sprints. He doesn’t like to run around the ground. He likes a lot of explosive sprints – take a one, run two, run three. Take a break, and come back. Do like a pyramid or an inverted pyramid. And he used to do sprints with the full gear – bat, pads and gloves – on. I remember we did 30 or 40 sprints in Kolkata. 30-40 sprints of 40m each. Then Viru (Virender Sehwag) also joined us. He got into the zone and I couldn’t stop until and unless he stops," says Ramji.

The cheat meal

In a #AskSachin session on Twitter last week, Sachin revealed that his favourite cheat meal was a Biryani. There was, however, no biryani or anything which increases the fat percentage in the dressing room during the World Cup and Ramji kept a close watch on what the players were eating.

“There was no biryani or anything in the dressing room (laughs). It was banned. No sodas, no preservatives, no high-fat food, and no fried item. Nothing. No cakes, no ice cream, nothing in the dressing room. Anything which increases the fat percentage was completely avoided," says Ramji.

The system in Tendulkar’s recovery protocols

Every professional athlete pays a lot of attention to recovery protocols and Tendulkar was no different. After numerous bouts with injuries during his long career, the right-hander ensured to recover well and was very mindful of what and when he was eating.

“He used to follow good recovery protocols. He is very systematic. Everything is so systematic. Unless and until you are systematic, you can’t reach that level. Very systematic in what he ate, the fitness he did, recovery protocols, and massages. The hot and cold showers, the contrast baths, post-recovery meals – Sachin was spot on," says Ramji.

What was an ideal diet for Tendulkar during recovery?

“Pasta and lot of green, leafy vegetables. He likes his meat but it also depends on the day. Depending on the intensity of the day, he will choose what he wants. Especially after evening session, we would have pasta and salads. It’s not a heavy loaded pasta – it’s a grilled chicken pasta for right dose of protein and carbohydrates. And then we have juices and mashed potatoes – for quick recovery. Everything was designed well ahead," says Ramji.

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