'Fitter' Surya shed 15 kg post surgery to get in shape for World T20

Suryakumar Yadav is looking leaner and fitter than ever since his comeback to competitive cricket and much of it could be attributed to a regimented diet plan along with rigorous strength training to cut at least 1214 kg he had gained after sports hernia surgeryWorlds No 1 T20 batter Suryakumar was out of competitive cricket for close to four months after undergoing an ankle operation in December last followed by a sports hernia surgeryFor an elite sportsperson coming back to peak fitness is always a challenge and a strict diet plan is foundation to thatIf you look at him he is looking much leaner and stronger and little muscular and diet was planned with supplementation to achieve that goal Coordination between recovery rate and muscle gain rate so we adjusted to achieve that in record time dietitian Shwetha Bhatia founder of Mind Your Fitness who has worked on Suryakumars nutrition for some time told PTI during an interactionOverall by now 1415 kg there was slight increase in his weight after surgery which is a natural medical reaction not because he was off diet Bhatia explainedOut of 15 kg that he shed Dexa machine will confirm that 13 kg will be fat she addedAt the National Cricket Academy NCA there is a Dexa machine to check a players body composition and that gives breakup of amount of muscle mass gain and fat loss and amount of abdominal fatAs much as one indulges in rigorous SampC training one needs to also keep an eye on diet and thats where Bhatia came into the picturePost his injury we made his diet plan a bit stricter because when there is no activity you dont increase food directly like that but there was more focus on his recovery with vitamin supplements she saidHe was at National Cricket Academy more strength training was incorporated so that he has a better comeback We dont get into his rehab programme but we need to coordinate with NCA in terms of his recovery rate because if it is going slow then it is falling short somewhereMutually it was agreed that strength training would be the focus and cricketers dont get a lot of time for strength training when the season is on and usually get time when matches are not happening and mostly they practice their core skillsAlso ReadKohli hopes World Cup in US will set off domino effect in spreading the gameMore than calories normally the amount of protein carbs and fat that the athlete needs is computed In recovery phase the athlete needs an increase in the calorie intake and specially the protein has to match because activity levels go upThe calories are increased keeping in mind that you dont want fat gain to happen during that period to make sure muscle mass is maintained Bhatia explainedSo how was Suryakumars meal structure ahead of T20 World Cup 2024Basically he was on threemeal structure and three went on to became four when activity resumedAll meals had good quality protein like eggs meat or fish and he is not fond of dairy products and that was excluded When activity was much lesser we had reduced the amount of carbohydrates grains dals were lesser it was low carb dietHe doesnt eat rice and uses substitute flour not atta for his rotis He eats nuts and seed based low carb flours Vegetable and fluid intakes were high with soups and chaanch Nuts and avocados based on availability was also in his planOf late players like Suryakumar Hardik Pandya and Rishabh Pant have had personal chefs accompany them on various tours as more and more players are being careful about their meals and would consciously avoid hotel foodThe elite athletes are now spending significant amount of money from their own pockets to have their respective chefs on board and also book them apartments where they cook their meals and bring it for the players at the team hotel The practice is more prevalent on long tours like the T20 World Cup 2024With agency inputs