Former strength and conditioning coach of the Indian team Ramji Srinivasan says players shouldn’t follow what an S&C says blindly and instead suggest players to ask questions.
How MS Dhoni’s Team Played 3 Formats Without Injuries
Fast bowler Mohammed Shami and all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja have also been ruled out of the series as they are yet to fully recover from their respective shoulder and knee injuries. These three injuries are not an exception as recently Jasprit Bumrah missed the T20 World Cup with an injury.
India faced a series of injuries in the ongoing Bangladesh tour – Indian captain Rohit Sharma injured his thumb while fielding in the 2nd ODI and left the field in middle. In addition to him, Deepak Chahar sustained a left hamstring strain, and Kuldeep Sen was struck with stiffness back.
The question – Did India Sent Half-Fit Players To Bangladesh? becomes quite talkative right after Indian captain Rohit Sharma said “can’t have guys coming in to play for the country half-fit”.
The statement was also noticed and highlighted by former Indian cricketer and Indian national cricket coach Madan Lal. The 1983 Cricket World Cup winning team member said “It is a very sad thing. If the captain is saying this then something is wrong somewhere”.
Several experts have said that India’s busy schedule is one of the reasons behind so many players getting injured. Others have said that specialists should be used in each format to manage the workload.
Now, former strength and conditioning coach of the Indian team, Ramji Srinivasan, who was with the side during the 2011 World Cup-winning campaign, has opened up on the issue.
“Picking specialists for each format is a call that has to be taken by the selectors and the coaching staff. But if the selectors decide that a player is going to feature in all three formats, it is the duty of the strength and conditioning coach to keep the player fit.
There is nothing wrong in players featuring in all three formats. Don’t forget, 10 years ago, you had MS Dhoni, Yuvraj Singh, Irfan Pathan, Harbhajan Singh, and Zaheer Khan featuring in all three formats.
Players understood their body and were smart enough to know what worked for them. And they shouldn’t follow what an S&C says blindly. They should ask questions,” Srinivasan wrote for IE.
“Playing three formats is an evolution of the game and as far as fitness goes, everything is possible. But for that, testing, screening, training, plan & travel and diet schedules have to be finalised accordingly.
There will be players who are equipped to play all three formats and only skill should determine it, not fitness. If there is an all-format player, he has to be trained accordingly. And as a player’s age, one has to factor in that as well. Virat Kohli can’t be following the same process now that he was doing four years ago.”
The Indian cricket team is currently playing the Test series in Bangladesh between December 14 to December 26 across Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium, and Shere Bangla National Stadium.
