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Fitness should be constantly monitored

Quality bowlers need to undergo a rehabilitation process, writes Makarand Waingankar

— Photo: PTI

HANDLE WITH CARE: R.P. Singh, who was declared fit following tests at the NCA in Bangalore, has not played a match for nearly a month.

Now that Sachin Tendulkar has declared himself fit, so will the others named in the report by the team’s physiotherapist John Gloster. A major worry is the successful fast bowlers who, every third month, need to be treated for an injury. Zaheer Khan is still unfit. And R.P. Singh, though declared fit, hasn’t played a match for a month.

The problem with the fast bowlers who start off bowling at over 135 kmph is that when they return from the tour, they lose pace as the fitness required to maintain the speed is not monitored by the experts. The training schedule is given to bowlers by the trainer but if it is done without proper supervision, it impairs the process more than it helps a bowler remain fit.

Ishant Sharma, who was bowling less than 130 kmph when he was picked for the tour, has now touched the 150 kmph mark obviously because of the training methods and some very good technical input from bowling coach Venkatesh Prasad. To sustain that pace, his practice and matches have to be planned.

There is a school of thought that believes in letting the fast bowlers bowl all the time to strengthen the bowling muscles. But the majority of coaches in India feel the fast bowlers have to be used sparingly as the pitches are not conducive to fast bowling.

Ishant Sharma and R.P. Singh looked impressive Down Under mainly because of the bounce of the pitches. Most of the pitches at the international centres in India are so slow that the fast bowlers struggle to extract bounce and generate pace, frequently injuring themselves.

The coaches of the Indian team have been suggesting that the BCCI either should have a tie-up with the MRF Pace Foundation or there should be a department at the NCA to keep working on the fast bowlers. The Pakistan Cricket Board has a department at the PCB Cricket Academy which regularly works on the rehabilitation process under former Pakistan fast bowler Aquib Javed.

Recently, the academy banned 22 fast bowlers with suspect actions from participating in any local tournaments and the department is rectifying their actions.

Different scene

The Indian scenario is quite different. Though the Match Referees and the footages have identified more than a dozen bowlers with suspect actions, the associations in total disregard to the instructions of the BCCI have been playing those bowlers, and one of the bowlers, Mohnish Parmar, who was dropped by the West Zone selectors for the Duleep Trophy final has now been included in the West Zone team for the One-Day Deodhar Trophy tournament.

Parmar, who played only two matches, had an analysis of 10-0-52-2 and 5-0-34-0. Why have a system of filming if such bowlers continue to play for the states and zones with unrectified actions? In fact the position Director of Umpires S. Venkatraghavan is holding looks redundant.

The BCCI should have a department for bowlers in the NCA and the quality bowlers should be compelled to undergo the rehabilitation process.

There are a number of quality bowlers on the domestic junior circuit, but their respective states don’t have the experts to guide them nor the qualified trainers to chalk out the programmes. Getting a foreign trainer for the Indian team is not the solution to the problems bowlers all over the country are facing.

Hopefully biomechanics pioneer John Harmar will set things right, but the local coaches will need to undergo an orientation programme with proper follow-ups if there is to be an increase in the number of bowlers attaining optimum level. Ishant Sharma is an ideal case study, demonstrating the importance of scientific measures which made the bowler that he is today.

Choosing to disregard that importance is a carelessness that will prove very costly.

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