ENG vs AUS: 'No Garlic Naan' For Marcus Stoinis In India As He Hires Personal Indian Chef For Cricket World Cup 2023

Velton Saldanha of Mumbai is the chef who is travelling with Australian cricketer Marcus Stoinis during the World Cup and takes care of his diet on the tour.

Marcus Stoinis. (Image: ANI)

Australian all-rounder Marcus Stoinis is not too keen on gorging on the delicious Indian food dishes as he travels all across the country with the five-time champions to play the ICC Cricket World Cup 2023. The cricketer is one of the fittest players going around in the world. He is currently on a high fat, low carb diet and has hired an Indian chef on this tour of India to ensure what he eats keeps good care of his body. Stoinis says he wants to play cricket for a long time.

Velton Saldanha is that chef who is trained in French cuisine and he has been on plane with Stoinis throughout this World Cup. Saldanha cooks the food which is required by Stoinis at the hotel the team stays in. Saldanha was recommended to Stoinis by his Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) captain KL Rahul. Stoinis met Saldanha during IPL 2023 and from then the association began.

The visiting players in India like to eat a lot of Indian food, which are not very healthful even they are very tasty, especially if you are an athlete. The likes of Dal Makhni, Butter Chicken, Garlic Naan and many sweets can reverse your fitness journey. Stoinis says that he got the idea of hiring the services of a personal chef by looking at Indian players. Hardik Pandya too has a permanent personal chef who travels with him everywhere to keep his diet intake in control. 

"Garlic naan is out. Gluten-free banana bread and shepherd's pie with roasted cauliflower mash are in. A roast butter chicken, the intersection of Saldanha's French training and his Indian heritage, has also been a hit," the report on cricket.com.au says. 

Stoinis is getting baked oats, which is the only form of carbohydrate in his daily food. Not to forget, the Australian cricket team has a chef already but Stoinis has decided to get ahead of everyone.

Marcus Stoinis on just what is going on with those wicket celebrations, and reveals to the #UnplayablePodcast the sort of feedback he gets from Aussie fans about it... #CWC23 pic.twitter.com/L7pwL51tFi

— cricket.com.au (@cricketcomau) November 1, 2023

"I want to play for as long as I can. I want to take control of as many things as I can through my cricketing career," said Stoinis.

"We travel a lot and we're obviously away from our comfort zone. We're in different time zones. we're in different beds, we're in different hotels – we're not exactly by the beach in Perth, having a coffee and that sort of stuff," Stoinis was quoted as saying in a PTI report.

Stoinis is keeping up with the fast changing world in cricket and sees these expenses as investment in prolonging one's career on the field. He says that some people see this as a waste of money but he does not. 

"I'm happy to invest in my own chef or invest my own batting coach or invest my own sports psychologist – that's just the way I see things," said Stoinis.