High on taste

Special delights

There’s one thing common to all the foreign players of the Royal Challengers Bangalore other than their passion for cricket. They all have strong likes and dislikes towards Indian cuisine. They love Indian food and swear by certain Indian dishes.

The Indian players too have their favourites when it comes to food. The cricketers don’t really follow a strict diet regimen but make sure they don’t eat too much of rich, oily food to maintain their high energy levels. They gorge on sweets but make sure they cut down on some other calorie-rich food to balance it out.

Metrolife interacted with a few players from RCB and found out that they love exploring and experimenting with different cuisines but they all say in one voice that there’s nothing like a home-cooked meal.

Apart from adhering to a strict regulated diet chart, there’s a lot of common sense that’s packed into a diet chart. Most cricketers voluntarily stay away from oily food and make sure they consume a lot of food that’s high on carbs, protein and keep off fatty stuff.
The tastes of Indian and international cricketers are dramatically different. They all have their individual strong preferences when it comes to eating out. Manish Pandey swears by chinese and continental food. “I love gorging on prawns...the only seafood I like. And biryani is another favourite,” he says. Veteran cricketer Rahul Dravid prefers home-cooked food. He likes exploring Italian cuisine whenever he dines out or is travelling. Vinay Kumar thinks that diet plays an important part in regulating and maintaining high energy levels. “I say no to oily food, consume fruits and vegetables in large quantities and nuts is another favourite. When I can’t resist the temptation I do eat sweets and chocolates in limited quantities,” observes Vinay.

The international players love Indian food but find it a wee bit too spicy. Nevertheless, they have their favourites and never miss chance to gorge on them whenever they’re in India. Dale Steyn usually settles in for Sushi and barbecue chicken. His Indian favourite is butter chicken. Cameron White too like Dravid sticks to home-cooked food but explores and experiments with seafood when eating out. Dillon du Preez dives straight into lamb chops and chicken tikka masala. And joining him on the same lines is Ross Taylor who swears by chicken tikka masala, black dal and says he just can’t resist biryani. The cricketers can eat whatever they want but their strength and conditioning coach Basu, who has been roped in from Chennai, especially to train the Royal Challengers Bangalore, makes sure they burn the excess fat and stay fit.

 Basu says he charts out a fitness regime for individual players depending on their body and fitness levels, “What works for one player may not work for another. Each body functions and responds differently. Each player has a unique strength level which must be maintained and regulated through a strict diet,” Basu points out.