IPL 2021: Mumbai Indians star SuryaKumar Yadav REVEALS how he lost 12 kg in three months

​Mumbai Indians star opener SuryaKumar Yadav, who recently received his much-awaited maiden India call up for the five-match T20I series against England, revealed how he used the lockdown period to lose weight and get in shape.

Notably, SuryaKumar worked on his fitness during the lockdown and went on to lose 12-kg weight in three months.

“In the first few days of the lockdown, I ate almost everything that I saw, sugar, sweets, carbs, and rice. Then this thought struck me, why not use the lockdown to get my body into shape,” Surya told the Indian Express.

“No sugar, no sweets, cut 90 per cent of rice and aata. I quit most high-carb food and switched to rotis from jowar, bajra and ragi with normal daal, sabzi or paneer. I also started working out twice a day. Previously it was five times a week,” he added.

Yadav said that it was an arduous task to maintain the diet for the first few days but he kept himself motivated and didn’t deviate from the path of fine tuning his body, which ultimately helped him improve his game.

“The initial weeks were difficult. I usually have my dinner at 7.30 and sleep at around 10.30-11.00, so I used to feel very hungry at night. I told myself, it’s not easy, but not impossible either,” the prolific batsman said.

“I was not feeling tired batting in high-intensity games, I felt fresher when batting after fielding for 20 overs. The recovery time after running between the wickets was quicker, I could move around faster on the field, and even fielded at point a couple of times,” he explained.

Interestingly, Suryakumar has been a consistent performer for Mumbai Indians for the last few years and played a key role in Rohit Sharma led side’s 5th Indian Premier League title triumph in IPL 2020. In IPL 13, Yadav averaged 40.22 but his strike rate of 155.36 was at an all-time high.

SuryaKumar will once again don the Mumbai Indians’ jersey when IPL 2021 commence on April 9 with the defending champions taking on Virat Kohli’s Royal Challengers Bangalore in the opening match of the tournament in Chennai.