Meet Akshay Arora, the private chef responsible for executing Rishabh Pant’s performance-driven nutrition program

Arora accompanies Pant to all his cricket engagements, ensuring that his dietary requirements are meticulously monitored.

Ever since India’s wicketkeeper-batsman Rishabh Pant returned to the cricket field, it is evident that a strict and personalized approach has been taken towards his fitness and recovery.

In addition to his rigorous training regime, Pant now benefits from the expertise of a private chef named Akshay Arora, the founder of Mumbai-based Neat Meals. Arora accompanies Pant to all his cricket engagements, ensuring that his dietary requirements are meticulously monitored and managed in collaboration with his nutritionist, Shweta Shah.

“Rishabh used to go to hotels, but we weren’t getting good chefs, which affected the ability to follow the nutrition plan for him. I told his manager that we were not progressing as planned, and that’s how we got Akshay on board. With him, we were assured that Rishabh was eating clean, tailored meals and not consuming processed foods,” said Shweta to IANS.

Shweta, who played a crucial role in helping Pant regain his form through a detailed nutrition plan following a series of injuries sustained in a serious car accident in December 2022, also stressed the importance of incorporating anti-inflammatory foods and proper hydration into his diet to expedite his recovery process between matches.

“For instance, I might just mention ‘chicken’ in the diet plan, but Akshay would create a variety of dishes that we had never thought of, keeping the diet interesting while maintaining the nutritional integrity. We tried this for only for one or two months, starting from end of January 2024. But now he just wants to keep on continuing. Having a private chef, it ensures consistency, quality and a performance focused approach for a cricketer like him,” she added.

Arora, a private chef specializing in athlete nutrition, is tasked with the important responsibility of crafting meals that are not only delicious and nutritious but also appealing enough to keep Pant engaged and satisfied with his food choices.

“For example, you say give him 40 grams of rice, right? Rice can be rice noodle, dosa, cracker, or rice itself. It’s about kind of creating that variety with different ingredients and make sure that the client does not get buffed by the monotony of the food.”

“If you keep on giving someone the same kind of food, especially for someone like Rishabh, who openly talks about him being a foodie, it was very clear from day that we have to make sure there is enough variety for him to not get bored and be consistent with it. He’s actually been very open to having different kinds of food,” he said to IANS.

Arora further elaborates that energy is defined by a variety of scientific terms. In the context of nutrition for Pant, it pertains to the nutrients that the player has not received an adequate supply of.

“There are two parts to this – one is the taste aspect, which is talking about culinary skills and taste of the food. The other aspect would be the macro nutrition. It could be like on certain game days, you’ve not had those many carbs. So, we understand now maybe we need to tweak a little bit and give him a little bit of carbs so that he recovers. At times, maybe he’s not had that much of protein during his game day because he doesn’t want to feel too heavy. So, you then again tweak.”

“It’s very like, how do I put it out? It’s tailor-made, and involves a lot of conversations that me and Shweta mam have had. There have been decisions that we’ve had to take on field rather than just pre-empting that this would happen and this is the plan that we have to stick to,” he adds.

Arora fondly recalls two incredibly fulfilling moments: witnessing Pant’s triumphant return to cricket through the IPL 2024 and seeing him score a Test century upon his return to the format against Bangladesh in Chennai.

“The most satisfying moment of my travel with him as a private chef would be the Test hundred in Chennai, as it was long overdue. When he walked out on the field for the first time in this year’s IPL at Mullanpur, I captured a video of it on my phone, which is still there. It was a moment that kind of made me also emotional, although I had not known him for that long back then. But whatever time I had spent with him before getting him onto the field, that became a very emotional moment on seeing him walking onto the field for the first time, as there was a question mark on him until he made his comeback.”

“But the Test hundred in Chennai, while wearing the Indian jersey, has a completely different feeling altogether because you are representing your country and not an IPL team. I also have the video of the one when he took those last two runs to complete his hundred, and that was a very proud feeling for me.”

(With IANS inputs)

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