CONTENT WARNING: SUICIDE

Kostya Tszyu was one of my favourite athletes.

Studying him, and then meeting him, helped shape my career.

As a younger player, I would walk to the middle, watch the ball like a hawk and hope for the best. This is like an amateur boxer’s approach, where they jump in the ring and take each experience as it comes.

What I learnt from Kostya was that as a professional you should know your opponent as well as you know yourself. By the time I adopted that Tszyu approach, I planned every bowler intimately and knew how they would attack me. The results were stark, especially in Test cricket.

Kostya Tszyu learnt his first lessons in boxing in freezing conditions in Russia, where discipline and commitment were essential allies. His early coaches taught him about precisi

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