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Once a player gets injured, a proper rehabilitation process plays a big part in rescuing his career. When I used to play, there were no physios or trainers with the team: the masseur would do every job. The only advice an injured player would get is, "Take rest." Then he would take rest, stay away for a couple of months, and come back feeling he is okay. But because he hadn't gone through proper rehabilitation, he would break down again and get frustrated and leave the game.

When a player is injured, he is desperate to get back to playing cricket at the highest level; he doesn't want to miss a single game. But if there is a physio, he can let him know what extent he can push himself to. The player is usually ready to take the plunge, but he needs a guide to tell him what lengths he go to.

I went through a shoulder injury in 1993 and was off cricket for four months. The only person I could go to then was my family physio, Sandhya Waingankar. I would travel all the way to see her by train. It would take me 45 minutes to one hour and sometimes I would do that twice a day. At that time that was all I could do, I didn't have access to anybody else.

Things have changed now; we have become much more professional and aware. Nowadays the traveling physio can minimise the impact of the injury in the first few hours, which are crucial. Still, there is a lack of quality trainers and physios who specialise in sport. If a player gets into improper rehabilitation, the amount of stress he goes through affects his performance, and often he gets injured again. If the injury occurs during the season, it's likely he stays out for that season and sets himself up for another.

SS Paul is an example of how a player should go about with his rehabilitation. He had a knee injury last season, had to undergo a surgery, and missed the entire season. But I made sure that he travelled with the team. He would go the grounds and dressing rooms, even if he was not playing. That kept him in touch with the physio and the trainer, and also his team-mates. This season he has come back well and looks fit.

Once a player has recovered he should make sure he plays some club cricket before he starts playing first-class cricket. There is cricket throughout the year in Mumbai, while that is not possible with many other associations. These club matches give the players a chance to test themselves, and players need to think in those terms as well.

It is surely frustrating when a player sees his friends and competitors playing and knows he can't play. But this is something he has to accept and get on with. It has happened many times that a player knows he is just about 80 per cent recovered, but still goes ahead and plays the first game of the season. By doing that, he risks another injury and lets the team down as well. It is a long journey back from an injury, which involves a lot of hard work, patience, medical expertise, and at times frustration. But once you have got injured, there are few alternatives or short-cuts.

Mr.Mhambrey:It is always tempting for an youngster to bowl fast, as he is fascinated by running up to the wickets, and swinging his arms as fast as he could to bowl at the batsman.The running;the swinging of arms come naturally to an youngster with talent due to enormous energy and enthusiam he possesses.The action is very important, and if it is smooth in rhythm with his built and body, it is a beauty to watch.Ramakant Desai and Michael Holding, though physically different in appearance, had an excellent run up and bowling action.To my knowledge, they had few injury problems, and perhaps did not undergo scientific coaching. What could be their secret? Perhaps you can enlighten us.It is true the fast bowlers are prone to injuries.I feel they should be played fewer matches and rest in between. You could develop a pool of fast bowlers, trained from an young age as the infrastructure is slowly emerging in India.Regards. Madhusudan from Hyderabad.

Good article Paras, I understand that things are better than they were in your day but it still does not come close to the support that fast bowlers (should I say sportspeople in general) get in England let alone Australia. We have the weather to produce sportsmen and sportswomen, what we need now is the interest in doing so. This means building an infrastructure that promotes the development of quality players.

My second gripe is one of unleashing the current crop of bowlers we have. During the ODI series Irfan Pathan surprised me by delivering a few deliveries at close to 144 Kph. Why does he not bowl flat out more often. He clearly has the build and he has the time to get faster. This can only be good for both him and India.

Finally, I would also like to know about Balaji and Nehra. Anyone know anything?

A Nice Article Paras!

Let me give my 2 cents worth on this thread!!

It was very unfortunate that we have lost a lot of talent in India to injuries and the then lack of expertise at managing injuries (which would include short and long term management)

But today the situation in vastly different! To be fair to the BCCI and its 100 crores as an earlier opinion had pointed out: The BCCI pays for a Qualified Physical Therapist and a qualified trainer for every state unit. This amount is included in the Match fees given to every state Ranji team, whether in Elite or the Plate group! The BCCI has been conduction workshops, training and certification for the therapists and trainers for the last three years and there are at least two dozen therapists and trainers across the country, would be competent to manage 90% of the injuries.

The Board also has from this year appointed a Sports Medicine Specialist in Each zone who would be guiding the rehabilitation and training efforts of the players from this zone. Complex injury management would be guided by these specialists and if any specialized care or Surgery is required the players would be referred to other specialists, but then the follow us rehabilitation efforts would be guided and supervised.

As the Sports Medicine specialist for BCCI for the South Zone, and with my personal association with the Tamilnadu Cricket Association, I would like to think that we have provided most players at least in Tamilnadu access to quality sports medical care and rehab. The support of the administrators of the game is also vital in this effort and I think Tamilnadu has been very fortunate to have very supportive administrators on this front, Sports and injury are two parts of the same coin and it is some thing that we cannot wish away. But I think the onus also falls on the players to heed qualified opinion and to stick with the prescribed schedules so that they would have a smooth re entry into the game that they love!!

Madhu

Dr Thottappillil, you say that there are competant training units for each state unit but how then does a situation like Munaf Patel who stiffens up in the field after a long spell in terms of fitness or a biomechanical flaw like Ishant Sharma's backfoot position occur? While we are on the topic of Ishant Sharma, why is he in such a fragile skinny body, surely he should have been given a more weight intensive physical programme to help him get the strength needed for injury prevention and fast bowling in general. This can be excused of course, if this is a new venture to expand the support staff of Indian teams and if it is, I hope it continues so that all teams in the Super League have support staff equal to those in England who helped RP Singh vastly more than the ones in India to gain 140kph pace.

Great post Paras, the "First Class, First Person" is truly a great innovation and a good indication of the true state of Indian Domestic Cricket to someone living in England like myself.

Paras,You are perfectly right in your judgment on the injury struck players in the current scenario but it is really difficult to understand that why do so many bowlers get injured now a days? The game hasn't changed much.. I understand the matches have gone up considerably... but you guys did the same isn't it?? Do you think a lot of emphasis is laid on gym training rather than spending time on the pitch? I have seen you guys working hard in the gyms but it was just during the off season. I strongly believe young fast bowlers should work on bowling more in the nets/matches than spending time in the gyms. As the saying goes, "You are cricketer and not a Mr India contestant." Time has come for all of us in the cricketing fraternity to understand the root of the problem rather than just cribbing about the issue. Time to think Paras ?? Please throw some light on this.

I was disappointed with your earlier articles in comparison to what Ashwin & Sanjay have dished out but you have hit the bulls eye with this one. It should be an eyeopener for lots of people on how to handle players when they come back from injury

Regarding Indian pacers losing pace Venkatesh Prasad has made a valid point. What else do you expect guys to do when you have real lifeless pitches? Concentrate on line & length and some swing.

W.V.Raman has shown great intelligence is handling Balaji and I read that there is a well though out plan to ease the bowler slowly in to four day cricket. I even saw the injured Ashwin bowling his offspinners during the recent Ranji match with his left hand in a cast. People like Raman seem to be a rarity these days.

To put it very honestly, i dont have semblance of respect for modern training facilities and techniques in cricket as far as bowlers are concerned. Can anybody point out a single tearway fast bowler in the game now who can sustain ferocity for a considerable time. Shane Bond,Shaoib Akhtar, Brett Lee all have missed more matches than played. Why modern techniques are not coming to their rescue. They are breaking down ridiculously on a consistent basis.The more we advace technically the more injuries arrive to the forefront rendering the bowling attacks pedestrian.I think its time for us to resort to tested common sensical methods rather than blindly follow laptop oriented treatment styles.

I remember seeing a group of students ( of Bio Mechanics) with a poster at a match recently (in South Africa during T20 if I recall correctly)- saying " Hire us !". Paras.. how far has this science made inroads into the science of fast bowling coaching and rehabilitation (globally and in India ) and what is Board doing about it ? With the kind of funds we have one would have thought these kind of studies shd receive the sponsorship and support they deserve so that stars of tomorrow get the expertise and knowledge they deserve .

Thoughts ?

Krish

No matter what a fast bowler does, till such time the BCCI and the big associations like MCA reduce the number of tournaments, fast bowlers will always spend more time with the physios. Look, what has happened to Avishkar Salvi. He bowled 200 overs before the Ranji Season began this season.Of course here the coach has to be blamed. Paras is an excellent coach because he understands the player's psyche. This is very important. It should be the duty of the coach too study the biomechanical aspects of the fast bowlers. Frank Tyson who worked on Paras, Abey, Salil Ankola always felt that fitness of bowlers has to be monitored. Are we doing it? Does John Gloster know what is the status of Balaji's injury ? This is where the injury management is very important. We don't even think about it.