Sunil Gavaskar Urges Players to Focus on Match Readiness

Former India captain Sunil Gavaskar addressed the injury problem in his article, providing a full appraisal of the scenario. The cricket great recognised a pattern in the types of injuries the team was coping with and wondered if the squad’s current training methods were causing the repeated failures.

Several key players, including Jasprit Bumrah, Sai Sudharsan, Washington Sundar, Hardik Pandya, Nitish Kumar Reddy, and Harshit Rana, are now out with injuries. The injury crisis has sparked heated debate over training regimens and the role of the BCCI’s Center of Excellence in player management.

The coaching staff and selection committee’s approach to player fitness and injury prevention has been criticised. While Bumrah has a knee issue, the majority of Indian players get hamstring injuries. Clearly, something is amiss with their training, which explains the frequent hamstring issues.

In his Mid-Day piece, Gavaskar blamed the physios at the BCCI center of excellence for the injuries sustained by Indian cricketers while playing.The practice of “biomechanics,” in which a bowler is limited to a certain number of deliveries in the practice nets, is controversial.

Even in the IPL, it is said that certain international physios do not allow bowlers to bowl more than 20 balls in the nets. If you’re going to bowl 24 balls in the match, and you don’t bowl no-balls or wides, how does bowling fewer balls in the nets help?,” he continued.

Furthermore, Gavaskar questioned the importance of athletes working out hard every day in the gym, arguing that match-fitness is more important. The speaker emphasised the necessity for further inquiry to determine the root cause of repeated injuries. It is more vital to be match fit rather than gym fit.

But then again, maybe I’m from a generation with different notions about fitness,” Gavaskar added.

Captain Shubman Gill recently expressed his frustration with the escalating number of injuries following India’s ODI series loss to England, claiming that the team’s constant need to change the starting lineup does not auger well.

Gill used the upcoming World Cup as an example, claiming that players must compete in nine to ten games during the tournament. He questioned how it would be possible if they were only allowed to play two or three games on a regular basis.