Indian Hockey Captain Manpreet Singh Hails Cricketer Virat Kohli As His Fitness Idol

India's most-capped hockey player Manpreet Singh idolises Virat Kohli and credits his longevity to fitness, saying he has drawn inspiration from the star cricketer's fitness regime.

Manpreet on Wednesday surpassed former captain and Hockey India chief Dilip Tirkey (412 international appearances) to achieve the milestone.

At 413 caps, Manpreet is fifth on the all-time list and the only active player among the top five.

"Everyone knows that Virat is a fitness freak," the 33-year-old Manpreet said in an online interaction from Rotterdam in the ongoing European leg of the FIH Pro League.

"Just not for me, for every athlete he is an idol, everyone learns from him how to remain fit. He is 36 but he has maintained his fitness very well.

"I have also learnt a lot of things from him (Kohli). The way he remains aggressive on the ground, focused, gives his 100 percent. He is a (Cristiano) Ronaldo fan and I am also a Ronaldo fan, that's common between us. It's inspiring for me and all.

"He is a vegan and what he eats and what not, every athlete follows." Manpreet, who led India to a historic bronze medal at the Tokyo Olympics after 41 years, said it is the hunger to don the National colours for long that drove him towards fitness.

"The hunger to represent India drove me towards fitness which is the reason behind my longevity. I want to maintain my fitness and prolong my career. In hockey you need to be fit because if you are not fit you can't survive in world level hockey," he said.

"That's why I give personal attention to my fitness because with age I have to increase my fitness level. If I am not fit I can't make my position for granted. Whenever I am on break or camps, I continue my fitness routine," he added.

Manpreet Sets His Sights On New Milestones

Manpreet already has two Olympic bronze to his credit, but it the dream to win a World Cup medal and gold at the Los Angeles Games that is still driving him.

"My dream is to win gold at Olympics and a World Cup medal. This hunger is the reason behind my longevity. I always knew that if I had to play well for India I need to be fit to compete with the youngsters and that always motivates me.

"And the bigger motivation is my family, whenever they (especially my two children, wife and mother) see me in TV, they say you played well, but you need to play much better," he said.

"The grit which Manpreet had at the age of 20 is still the same, the craziness is is still the same." With two big ticket events in the World Cup and Asian Games lined up, this year is crucial for Indian hockey and Manpreet very well knows the magnitude of these two tournaments.

"In the next matches we are going to play England and Pakistan who are there in the group stages with us in the World Cup.

"We are really excited about the World Cup and Asian Games because it's been a long time that we won a medal in the World Cup and it's important that we accomplish that. Asian Games is also very important because it's an Olympic qualifier for us," he said.

From London Gloom To Tokyo Boom

Manpreet rated bronze medal at the Tokyo Olympics under his leadership after 41 years as the highest achievement of his career so far, but rued about India's disastrous outing at his debut Olympics, the 2012 London Games.

"The highest point is definitely the Tokyo bronze, it was a dream for all the athletes to win a medal at Olympics that too after 41 years. It was my dream to win medal at Olympics.

"And the lowest was London Olympics. I went there as a youngster, we went there with goals and dreams but we couldn't win a single match and finished 12th," he regretted.

Manpreet has set his sights on his next targets -- World Cup, Asian Games and if fitness permits 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.

"Definitely the target is to play till LA but for that I need to keep my fitness and that's definitely going to be a challenge. Personally, I need to take care of that," he said.

"LA is my target but I need to keep my fitness. But if I fail I won't want to take it that long, I don't want to be a unfit player in the team and deny a youngster a place in the side.

"I will assess my fitness after the Asian Games and if I feel I am not up to the mark, I will take a call."