He now plays long innings and has consequently become the first Bangladeshi to reach 6,000 ODI runs, but in his early days he was a rough and tough bulky young boy who used to drink more coke than water. The story of Tamim Iqbal is not only of a country's best batsman and his deeds on the cricket field; it is also about his transformation into a health and fitness freak over the past few years, a change that took him from a promise that often frustrated to a world-class batsman.
“Coke was one of my favourite things in life and there was a time in my childhood when I even took medication with Coke. To come out of that is a big achievement for me. I won't say that I have completely stopped drinking Coke but I can proudly say that 95 per cent of the habit is gone now,” Tamim told The Daily Star yesterday.
The southpaw has faced immense criticism at certain points of his career and that made the cricketer more determined to change his habits off the field.
“I can remember after the last match of the 2015 World Cup, I had a chat with the [then] coach Chandika Hathurusingha. He never doubted my game, but he had questions over my fitness and food habits. I took a lesson from that and our trainer Mario Villavarayan is the main man behind all these things [changes].”
The 28-year-old informed that he followed a strict diet and lost eight or nine kgs in three-four months since returning from the 2015 World Cup, and that helped him to run faster, move better and concentrate longer but he knows that he is still not perfect and has a long way to go regarding fitness.
“My family... even if we eat very less it still looks like we have gained a lot. You will see there are many people who eat biriyani three times a day but there is no effect on their bodies. So I have to be very particular with my food. I never used to eat a lot; maybe I ate wrong foods but not a lot.
“What I am doing now, especially before this series [the ongoing tri-series], is that there is a company called 'Lean Nation'. They basically count your calories and ask whether you want to lose or maintain weight. Then they will fix you a specific calorie target and send you four meals a day at home. You will strictly eat that and nothing else. So I was doing that but normally during a series I am not able to do it as you have to eat a bit more as you need a lot of energy and strength, but I look after my diet. But when I am not playing I always use Lean Nation,” he said.
“The meals are very disgusting... in the morning I get a piece of bread with some peanut butter and a boiled egg. For lunch I have a very small amount of pasta or grilled chicken and the afternoon snack is a small packet of biscuit, a few almonds and a fruit -- apple or guava. At dinner it's the same -- only grilled chicken with some veggies but the portions are very small,” Tamim added.
His favourites are Hilsa, chicken roast and pulao but there are some conditions to meet before Tamim can have those mouth-watering items.
“I don't get to eat these foods now, although when I follow my diet for three weeks at a stretch I get a cheat day and I can eat whatever I want for a day and then again three weeks of diet,” he said.
Tamim said that his dedication to changing his food habits was inspired by the examples of India captain Virat Kohli and also his friend and national teammate Mushfiqur Rahim, adding that he wishes to become like Mushfiqur someday.
He added that there was another vital change to his lifestyle which came later than it should have.
“It's the sleeping habit. Normally I don't go to parties or do late nights. But I used to stay up late, around 1:00 or 1.30 at night, but I am very careful now. Before a game I try to sleep as early as possible and these small things can make a huge difference. I used to think that even if I am up till 3:00 at night, it won't matter if I score runs the next day, but because of that I failed. In the last two-three years I have been maintaining a proper sleeping habit and that is very important for any sportsman.”
According to Tamim, family played a huge role over his change in lifestyle as his wife has also become fitness-conscious to inspire him.
“Every cricketer sacrifices; I have a very young family but I don't get to see them often enough even when I am in Bangladesh. Yesterday [Tuesday] I played a game and I had a swimming session at 11:00 am today [Wednesday] so I didn't go home to see my son. These are all sacrifices I have to make,” said Tamim.
