Some balm for the wounded pride

Dr Chauhan, a graduate from the Queen’s Medical Centre, Nottinghamshire, UK, feels that injuries to Indian players occur due to lack of general physical fitness. “The trick is to start the right type of fitness training at grass root level,” says Dr Chauhan. “Expecting senior players to do something they have never done before is like asking for the moon,” he adds.

Dr Chauhan, who learnt the basics of sports medicine from Dr Peter Gregory, Chief Medical Officer of English and Wales Cricket Board, feels “the international playing span of Ashish Nehra would have been longer and injury-free if he had gone through a fitness regimen in his younger days.” Dr Chauhan, a keen marathon runner, feels most injuries can be prevented with the right amount of training at the right time. “Why wait for an injury to take place and see the doctor when you can prevent them?” he asks.

Dr Chauhan, a specialist in musculo-skeletal medicine, says bowlers are prone to back injuries. They become more fragile due to the demands of excessive modern-day cricket. “In Barbados we are going to discuss the optimum number of overs that a bowler should bowl. In my opinion, after every hard session of bowling a player needs three to four days of recovery,” he adds.

Talking about the current members of the Indian cricket team, whom he saw closely in South Africa, Dr Chauhan singles out skipper Rahul Dravid for his disciplinary attitude to learn and practice. “For the rest, the less said, the better,” he says.