Title: Embrace It: Rohit Sharma is a Natural Player with a Dad Bod, not a Gym Rat

Just a day before India's highly anticipated Champions Trophy semifinal against Australia, Rohit Sharma found himself at the center of controversy as Shama Mohamed, a Congress spokesperson, criticized him for being "overweight for a sportsman."

The Indian captain has not been at his best in the Champions Trophy. A 41 against Bangladesh in the opener has been his highest score. The 37-year-old has gotten off to strokeful starts but has departed early. In his pre-semifinal comments, former Indian captain Sunil Gavaskar said that an opening batsman’s job was not to bat only for 10 overs and that Sharma should aim for a longer stay at the wicket.

So while Mohamed’s comment was harsh and uncalled for, she is not the only one who has called out Sharma on his recent performances.

Now about the fat bit.

Sharma himself will admit that he is not in the race to feature in the Cristiano Ronaldo Museum of Abs. In an interaction with R Ashwin once he spoke openly about sneaking out in the middle of the night during IPL for pav bhaji at Chowpatty.

Sharma is the type of player who relies more on timing and cricketing intellect. As long as he can swivel in time to play his famous pull he is alright. And he has delivered more often than not on the basis of those skills. You do not become a white ball legend with a World Cup trophy, multiple IPL wins and individual honours unless you have some special gifts.

This episode reopens an old debate in cricket. Should players be jacked like stereotypical jocks?

The emergence and demands of T20 – even tailenders have to bat well enough now - and heightened fitness and nutrition awareness have made cricketers as athletic as footballers and tennis players.

But not so long ago many believed that cricket did not necessarily need excessive gym work. Many great players were sceptical of too much off field training. When John Wright and Greg Chappell became India coaches, fitness and diet often led to a cultural clash between them and the players. Wright was alarmed by the tradition of players settling into armchairs and having sweet tea and biscuits after practice and did away with it.

Players as great as Sourav Ganguly, Virender Sehwag, Inzamam-ul Haq and Shane Warne were rarely ever gym rats, doing just enough and letting their pure cricketing skills do the job for them.

Sharma has shown that he can be serious about his fitness levels. In 2011, stung after his exclusion from the World Cup squad and footage that zoomed in on his nascent corpulence, he committed himself to a boot camp with former teammate Abhishek Nayar. Their Rocky Balboa style workouts, as detailed by ‘The Cricket Monthly’, included cycling up a hill, pushing cars up slopes, chopping wood and lifting heavy tires.

But Sharma’s default state, especially at age 37 and having won so much, is that of being a natural player with a Dad Bod.

Maybe Shama Mohamed’s comments will fire him up out of lethargy and complacency, if any, against Australia. Just like Rocky.

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