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Indian cricket legend Sunil Gavaskar reckoned that there must be some issue with the Indian cricket team's training regime, as multiple cricketers are dealing with Injuries, including multiple hamstring issues.
Jasprit Bumrah, Hardik Pandya, Harshit Rana, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Varun Chakravarthy, Sai Sudharshan, and many other cricketers are currently dealing with injury setbacks.
Why are there multiple injuries in the Indian cricket team?
Despite taking care of the cricketers' workload, the recurring injuries cause a series of debates and a series of blame games. There are multiple theories behind these injuries. As the injured cricketers visit the board's Centre of Excellence (CoE) in Bengaluru, blame was on the Centre, which is headed by the former India cricketer VVS Laxman.
Laxman, in response, told the reporters that the Centre of Excellence is not a rehab centre. Gavaskar echoed the same in his column for Mid-Day. Sunil Gavaskar's concerns are over the cricketers' fitness.
Something wrong with training: Sunil Gavaskar on multiple injury setbacks
Recalling his days with the India National Cricket Team, the former opener said that whenever they used to face hamstring-related troubles, they dealt with them through the training programmes.
"While Bumrah has a knee injury, it is seen that most Indian players suffer from hamstring injuries. Clearly, there’s something wrong with their training, and that’s why these recurring hamstring injuries. These injuries happen when they are playing for India, but unfortunately, the blame is put on the physios at the BCCI Centre of Excellence," Sunil Gavaskar stated in his column.
Raising questions about the bowling practice process, Sunil Gavaskar pointed out that nowadays teams do not allow the bowlers to deliver more than 20 balls. In matches, bowlers need to deliver more than 20 balls. Therefore, Sunil wrote:
"The so-called biomechanics, where a bowler can bowl only so many deliveries in the practice nets, is a questionable practice. Even in the IPL, it is learnt that some of the overseas physios don’t allow the bowlers to bowl more than 20 balls in the nets. If in the match you will be bowling 24 balls, that is, if you don’t bowl no-balls and wides, then how is bowling a lesser number in the nets going to help?"
Sunil Gavaskar asks players to focus on match fitness
The legendary batter mentioned in his article that, to resolve fitness issues, players need to focus on regaining match fitness. Despite differences in generations, Gavaskar wrote that match fitness is more necessary than gym fitness.
"It’s an issue that needs a good, hard look at why these injuries are happening again and again. It is more important to be match fit than gym fit. But then, maybe I am from a generation that had different ideas on fitness," he wrote further.
Recently, on Day 1 of the ongoing Test match between India and Sri Lanka in Galle, KL Rahul retired hurt. He started the innings as an opener and batted swiftly before retiring hurt. Because of cramps that caused visible discomfort, the batter left the ground.
