10 Cricketers Who Proved Fitness Isn't A Concern To Play Cricket

10 Cricketers Who Proved Fitness Isn’t A Concern To Play Cricket; Today’s sporting world places a lot of importance on the fitness of athletes and cricket is no different. Whereas skill with the bat or ball was given primary importance in previous generations, nowadays the skillset of players must match their ability to put in the hard yards when most required.

Cricketers of today are better conditioned as athletes which is why the quality of certain aspects of the game – like fielding and running between the wickets – has become better and will continue to do so. Meanwhile, we came up with 10 players, who didn’t follow fitness regimes but made it to their respective teams.

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10 Cricketers Who Proved Fitness Isn’t A Concern To Play Cricket:

10.  Mohammad Shahzad:

The Wicketkeeper-batsman Shahzad falls under this category. He himself quoted that he would never compromise on his food. However, Shahzad quoted that he is trying to lose his weight but not going to negotiate on his food. Recently, he was suspended by the board for various other reasons.

He once compared himself to Virat Kohli saying that ” Dekhiye hum fitness bhi poori karte hain aur khaate bhi poora hain (I work a lot on my fitness but I don’t compromise on food). You want me to have a fitness routine like Kohli, it is not possible, but I am working on it (losing weight).”

9. Chris Gayle:

The world boss is one of the carefree guys on the cricket field. His allergy of taking ones and twos is a statement to his laziness and fitness. He doesn’t believe in running between the wickets and considers it a waste of deliveries and energy.

Chris Gayle has played half the matches in his career without being fully fit. And guess what, on most occasions, a half-fit Chris Gayle is more than enough to take the opposition bowlers to cleaners. This lad never ran for a 3 in his career. He likes to deal in boundaries (mostly sixes) and it’s nightmare for someone like Virat Kohli, who relies on their singles and doubles.

8. Dwayne Leverock:

Leverock also nicknamed “Sluggo” was among the heaviest player’s to ever step on a cricket pitch. An all-rounder for his national side Bermuda, Leverock weighed around 280 pounds. Who can forget that catch in 2007 World Cup? But, still, he is one of the laziest cricketers in the world. This guy never cared about fitness. He retired after a dismal performance by Bermuda in the cricket World Cup of 2007.

7. Virender Sehwag:

Yeah, the aggressive opening batsman is one of those cricketers, who is as lethargic as anyone. He never ran between the wickets intending to take one more run or for putting pressure on the fielder.

He was also dismissed in the run-out fashion, as he used to leave the stumps to the brilliance of Fielder, hoping that the fielder would miss the hit to stumps. Besides that, he was never interested in team meetings or practice sessions. However, he had a successful career as a cricketer.

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6. Inzamam-Ul-Haq:

The former Pakistan captain Inzamam was popular for a lot of things apart from his talent on the pitch. One of the reasons was his overweight and lazy. He was a poor fielder, often left into the slip area so that he would not have to run much.

He is also known for his poor running between the wickets. Inzamam had been run-out for 40 times in cricket Second Most by any player. He made the other runner also out twice as his run-outs.

5. Jesse Ryder:

When Jesse Ryder made his debut against England in 2008, it looked as if New Zealand had found a lasting opener. The left-hander soon made a reputation for himself not only as an aggressive player on the field but also a ‘wild-boy’ image off the field. Gradually, Ryder cemented his spot across all formats in the New Zealand team.

However, it was in 2013 that Ryder suffered a huge setback. A major assault in the bar saw him in the coma for 56 hours. Since then, he never made a comeback but he was one of those cricketers, who never trusted in being fit.

4. Aravinda De Silva:

Before Kumar Sangakkara, Mahela Jayawardene, Muttiah Muralitharan, and even Sanath Jayasuriya, there was him, who was the superstar from Sri Lanka. He amassed 448 from six games at 89.60 and at a staggering strike-rate of 107.69 — unheard of in the pre-T20 days. In addition to that, he picked up 4 wickets at 21.75.

Despite that, he was also one of the guys, who never relied on fitness regimes. He continued playing as a regular to have a tremendous cricketing career.

3. Ramesh Powar:

A stocky offspinner who is more than handy with the bat, Ramesh Powar has been a consistent performer in domestic cricket for the last four seasons and was crucial to Mumbai’s Ranji Trophy success in the 2002-03 season. All those efforts earned him the place in the Indian team.

He was pretty decent in the Indian attire as well but unfortunately, he didn’t get the backing from the Indian skipper Sourav Ganguly.

2. Darren Lehmann:

The ex-head coach of the Australian team also finds a place in the chart. He is one of the classic examples, who proved that fitness doesn’t matter when you got the talent to smash the opposition. He was brilliant with his willow during his times for the team.

He had never been the fittest looking Australian cricketer and right since his school days, was called ‘Boof.’ But never as a player, his structure came in the way of scoring runs. He was called Boof, which is a common term used for the fat guys in his region.

1. Sarfaraz Ahmed: