Suraj Thakuria: From best friend to nutritionist, the man who unlocked Venkatesh Iyer's true potential

Besides growing up together, Suraj Thakuria (R) has also been serving as Venkatesh Iyer's (L) personal nutritionist [Credits: Suraj Thakuria]

Venkatesh Iyer calls him his best friend. He calls Venkatesh Iyer his life mentor. Both had a dream of playing cricket for India. Venkatesh did realise his dream. But as if inspired by Ranbir Kapoor’s ‘main ab bhi wahi sapne dekh raha hu, lekin do ticket pe’ dialogue, he is living that dream with his childhood buddy Suraj Thakuria.

From getting picked by the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) for 20 lakhs to being retained for a whopping 8 crore, Venkatesh Iyer - a seam-bowling all-rounder from Madhya Pradesh - has traversed the journey from chasing the India dream to the team looking to his all-round skills. But behind the ‘rags to riches’ success is a story of sacrifice, hard work, discipline, ethos, and most importantly, of a man who inspired a complete transformation.

“Once he came back to Indore after the IPL 2021 got halted in May, we made a proper structured diet, because I knew for the upcoming 20 days or 30 days or maybe 45 days, he was going to be in Indore itself and will have all the facilities. So that time, we were very specific about the daily routine, the meal timings, when he should go to the ground – everything was very structured," Suraj Thakuria, Venkatesh Iyer’s best friend, said in an exclusive interview with Sportskeeda.

They couldn’t meet every day as the country was grappling with a morbid second wave of the pandemic. But Suraj ensured Venkatesh sent him pictures of whatever he was eating throughout the day. Quelling the bias against supplements, he mentioned the need to increase Venkatesh’s protein intake for a better recovery of his body. He even prescribed him to measure each and every item before having it.

“Protein supplements are still not supported in our country, which is a very bad thing is what I feel, and majority of the people feel one scoop of Whey is enough for the day. But that is not the case; sportspersons need to have more protein in their diet for better recovery than a normal person. Taking a huge meal at once would give him some discomfort, so we had to divide the meals for a better gut health. He had to measure the food before eating, so that I came to know of his calorie intake. We were tracking the calories, we were changing the calories according to matches, practice and rest day,” Suraj elaborated.

A nutrition consultant by profession, he officially took ‘Venky’ – as he is popularly called – under his wings in the second half of 2020.

“But I am the sportsman, why are you doing all this?”

The picture was clicked a few days after Venky got a job with Deloitte, also a few days before his Ranji Trophy debut vs Hyderabad [Credits: Suraj Thakuria]

The journey started when both Suraj and Venkatesh were pursuing MBA in Finance from Indore’s Institute of Management Studies. While Venky was simultaneously playing white-ball cricket for the state, Suraj was doing a course on nutrition.

“That is when I was very calculative about my things – what to eat and what not to eat in college. And he was always like, ‘But I am the sportsman, why are you doing all this?’ I used to carry a food measuring scale because I was passionate about all these things,” Suraj declared.

It was this passion which rubbed off on his once under-13 club captain. Given the fine margins in cricket, Suraj gave Venky an informed opinion on how taking control of nutrition would give him an edge over others.

“The problem in India is, when it comes to fitness, we are talking about Virat Kohli’s regime, his workout routine, but no one talks about nutrition. Workouts won’t help if you're not doing the nutrition right, you cannot perform at your best in matches.

“You need to be very calculative about how much carbs and proteins you need on the day before the match and on the match day. It also depends on whether it’s a T20 or Test match, so you need to manage all these stuff to perform. It might give you just 0.1 percent edge over others, but that really matters,” Suraj explained.

Venkatesh Iyer is extremely fortunate that his closest friend is a nutritionist who has known how his body functions and his food habits since they were just 10 years old. To spare the mental burden of a sacrifice, Suraj modelled Venky's diet around his go-to food, i.e sambar rice.

“I was making his diet according to his comfort food, because I didn’t want to give him that mental pressure of having to do some sacrifice. That is where things really happened and worked for me, because he was eating what he was eating earlier, just that the quantity was changed. And we included few more other items in the diet,” Suraj added.

It worked wonders as Venkatesh Iyer shed more than four kilograms in the four-and-a-half month gap before the UAE leg. From weighing 88.1kg on May 11, he operated at 84kg while smashing 370 runs in the 10 games for KKR. Everyone puts in effort. But when the results are tangible, the satisfaction and the ensuing belief hit different.

He has trained 13 cricketers till date, including helping fast bowlers Avesh Khan and Ankit Rajpoot beat lockdown-induced fitness issues and get back to their best versions.

After the first Covid-19 scare, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) resumed cricket in the country with the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy. It was that month that Avesh joined hands with Suraj. The 25-year-old was 91kg then. Ankit, who enrolled himself the following month, was touching 94kg. A year later, Avesh has dropped 6 kilos while UP’s Ankit is maintaining himself at 84kg.

They regularly update an Excel sheet which makes note of key parameters like weight, water intake, supplementation, feedback, among others. According to Suraj, Ankit Rajpoot is the most sincere among the trident, when it comes to meticulously ticking every box.

Avesh Khan - Left: 88.9 kg; Right: 84.5 kg [Credits: Suraj Thakuria]

In an exclusive interview to Sportskeeda last November, Venkatesh Iyer had mentioned how he has been inspired him to “draw information from food”. Asked to shed light on it, Suraj said it had initially started with him asking Venky about nutritional content in food items while dining out. That exercise has now become muscle memory.

“We developed awareness about food. When we used to go have something at a restaurant, I used to casually ask him about the content of carbs, oil etc. in a particular item. It’s always estimation – you can’t be accurate at all times – but estimations are good enough to know what you are eating. So at the back of his mind, he knows he needs to have this much calorie throughout the day," Suraj remarked.

How he uses “we” every time while talking about Venky speaks volumes of the pride he takes in being the 'Ajit Tendulkar' figure to his best friend.

Long-distance relationship

Venkatesh Iyer, clad in KKR colours, departs for the UAE leg of IPL 2021 [Credits: Suraj Thakuria]

Be it playing for the same club or meeting over samosas after MBA classes, Venkatesh and Suraj kept seeing each other throughout the day. But now, after breaking into the international cauldron, Suraj barely gets to meet his favourite client in person. But distance hasn’t hampered their routine one bit.

All tours start with Venkatesh sending Suraj pictures of the spread available at the hotel. Suraj then tells him what all to avoid, while modifying his macronutrients, essential vitamins and minerals, and other sports supplements.

Granular details count for a lot when one is competing on the global stage. He further gave insights into how Venky's diets change according to training sessions and formats of the game.

“He first gives me his routine, the amount of gym, endurance and practice sessions scheduled for the days before a match. He cannot tell me the whole thing, but he tells me whatever is of my concern and I make the charts accordingly. A day before and during a Test match, I usually increase his carbohydrate intake from different sources, to deliver enough energy while also focusing on his hydration," Suraj told Sportskeeda.

While Virat Kohli is regarded as the gold standard of fitness in Indian cricket, Suraj opined that everyone should know their body first and train accordingly.

“We all love Virat Kohli’s fitness, but everyone’s body is different. If I give Venky a lot of meat – he is a Tamil guy – it’s not going to work. Virat Kohli is one in a thousand; if you are willing to be like him, then give your everything. And if not, then at least do the things that might work for you – like managing the food. You cannot survive on salads or meat if you are coming from a different background. Virat Kohli is getting into the vegan part, which might not work for a normal domestic or club-level player because of the lack of facilities, supplements and budget. So it’s important to know what best you can do with the resources you have,” he exhorted.

Venky and Suraj strike a pose with Punjab Kings' David Miller during IPL 2011 [Credits: Suraj Thakuria]

Giving mental strength, too

Venkatesh Iyer has represented India in 3 T20Is and 2 ODIs so far

These days, not a single interview goes without Venkatesh Iyer thanking his best friend for bringing about his transformation but also instilling self-belief in him.

Suraj admitted that Venkatesh’s clarity of mind stood out from a very young age. He recalled a knock in age-group cricket which first hinted at the promising prospect that Venkatesh would become.

“When we were at the club together, we wanted to work hard like reaching the ground at 6 in the morning, watering the pitch, rolling it, all these stuff. But he wanted to work smart. We used to do the drills for hours, when he used to go into the nets for a 20-minute session, pack his bags, get done with his batting part, before focusing on the other aspects. Such was his clarity that we used to think we were doing something wrong. And then, we started following his routine.

“He has been practical and has a clear vision since the under-13 days. When we were struggling to get into the MP or division teams while he had already made the cut, I knew he was going to make it big. And I remember, it was an under-14 or under-15 match, but he played a great knock of 130 or 135 runs at the Holkar Stadium. And he was so exhausted that he literally fainted on the ground,’ Suraj laughed, one borne out of pride.

As recently as the second half of IPL 2021, Suraj had admonished Venkatesh for playing a rash shot in one of the games. But what again underlined his remarkable clarity of mind was how he calmly replied. Suraj reiterated that that one just has to hear him out and show full support.

“He is going to talk to you about whatever he is thinking and come up with his own solutions; you just need to listen and back him. It might have been the knockout stages of the IPL, and he got out playing a silly shot. And when I was bashing him on the phone, he told me how it is his responsibility to take care of the six overs of powerplay and not play the 20 overs,” he said.

But for someone who interacts with him on a daily basis, how big a task is it to cocoon an international cricketer from the unnecessarily harsh outside world? Here too, Venkatesh has come up with his own coping mechanism. He has already made constant criticism a part and parcel of his life, so much so, that he even enjoys memes about himself.

“We usually share memes on Instagram – there are memes on him – but he is very clear that he won’t ever take these things to bed. Same with any arguments he has with me. He sees, he thinks about it, but it doesn’t matter at the end of the day. He’s like, ‘Yeh rehne wala; if I want to do big, I have to ignore these,’” Suraj praised.

But he does play an important role in helping Venkatesh move on, thus avoiding complacency or excessive soul-searching from percolating.

“I just tell him two words: ‘good job’. Be it a hundred, a fifty, or even 20, if I think that is a good score, I praise him. Both of us know that we cannot keep these in our head for more than 15-20 minutes, we have to focus on the next training and match,” he concluded.

Everyone will remember Venkatesh Iyer as the studious guy who dreamt of playing cricket for India. But it’s time we started recognising and appreciating the supporting acts.

Not everyone has the privilege of having a Suraj Thakuria in their life. And if Suraj indeed goes on to realise his dream of being in the Indian dressing room – as the team’s nutritionist – it will be a win for his passion and the importance of nutrition in high-performance sport.

Suraj with Venky (L) and Avesh (R) at the Holkar International Airport, Indore [Credits: Suraj Thakuria]