Former India captain Rohit Sharma(Photo: IANS)

Former India captain Rohit Sharma is keeping himself in prime physical shape in his bid to represent the side at the ICC ODI World Cup 2027 in South Africa, Zimbabwe and Namibia next yearRohit Sharma is 39 years of age and will be 40 by the time the ODI World Cup comes around next yearBut the former Mumbai Indians batter is not showing any signs of slowing down.

Rohit Sharma’s former Mumbai teammate and current Kolkata Knight Riders head coach Abhishek Nayar, revealed the story behind the star opener’s career-defining physical and mental transformationSpeaking on The Great Indian Cricket Show on Doordarshan, former Mumbai all-rounder and Team India assistant coach Abhishek Nayar share story of Rohit Sharma’s fitness mantra.

“We used to argue a lot because I trained heavily, while he relied more on skillI would tell him, ‘Come on, let’s hit the gym,’ and he would say, ‘Leave it, I will score runs.’ There was nothing wrong with that mindset, fitness culture and the Virat Kohli phenomenon had not yet transformed Indian cricketThe turning point came when a news channel published his photo with a circle drawn around his bellyThat image stuck in his mind,” Abhishek Nayar told Doordarshan

ROHIT SHARMA

– Ro bringing vibe in the training sessionpic.twitter.com/DDaPhfXYVZ

— Johns(@CricCrazyJohns) September 10, 2026

Rohit Sharma has piled up 11895 runs in 288 ODIs so far an average of 48.95 with 34 hundreds and 62 fifties with a strike-rate of 93.04He retired with 4301 Test runs in 67 matches at an average of 40.57 with 12 hundreds and 18 fifties in 2025.

He also scored 4231 runs in 159 T20I matches at an average of 32.05 with 5 hundreds and 32 fifties and a strike-rate of 140.89 before announcing retirement after winning the T20 World Cup 2024.

With Rohit having built one of the most decorated careers in modern cricket across all formats, Nayar highlighted how overcoming the heartbreak of missing out on the 2011 World Cup squad laid the foundation for his shift into an elite performer.

On the aftermath of his 2011 World Cup omission, Nayar added, “When the World Cup squad was announced and he was not selected, we were at his houseHe expected to be pickedIPL was scheduled to place after about a month and a half, and he told me, ‘Nayar, whatever it takes in these six weeks, I need to enter the IPL with at least a four-pack.’

“People may not believe it, but he entered that IPL with a four-packFor him, skill was never the issueIt was always about fitness and using that to elevate his skill set,” Nayar revealed.

Rohit Sharma scored a brilliant 138 in his last ODI match against England at Lord’s in July this yearHe is expected to return to international cricket later this month in a three-match ODI series beginning at Thiruvananthapuram on September 27.