Due to the pandemic spread of COVID-19 Virus, The whole world has been ought down to a standstill. Many major sporting events have either been postponed or canceled in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic affecting the globe. Cricket has also suffered a similar fate with many international and domestic matches being canceled. All the athletes are restrained inside their homes due to the same. The athletes are now facing major issues as they try to remain fit awaiting the cricketing action to resume. In an interaction with Press Trust of India, former India pacer Ashish Nehra commented on the challenge every fast bowler will face once the lockdown ends.
“Let’s consider a few situations. Even if the lockdown ends on April 15, it will take a lot of time for social life to become normal. “If you ask me, I am not expecting any cricketing activity before July. So this is a long break but once the action starts fast bowlers have the biggest challenge to remain fit.”
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Ashish Nehra feels that the insufficiency of space is a big problem for most cricketers as they are habitual about training on big cricket grounds especially the fast bowlers who need space for their run-ups.
“Lack of running time for fast bowlers is an issue. Now the situation is unavoidable. So whoever at least has a garden with say 15 metres or 20 metres space, they should do shuttle run thrice a week unless they are allowed to train at grounds,” Nehra said.
Nehra continued with, “You can do as much of yoga or free weights, fast bowler’s life is nothing without good running time. There is a lot of difference with batsmen,”
Why does one need to run more than say cycling or swimming? “It’s not just about heart-rate but also about bowling muscles such as hamstring, glutes, groin, and calf, they remain activated. Giving a choice between swimming, cycling and running, as a cricketer I would say running. Also, a bit of shadow bowling can help in visualization,” he added.
Sharing a word of advice for players training in the in house terraces with soil and grass layering, Nehra sent out a word of caution for the players and asked them to be careful and avoid injuries.
“It’s fine if you are doing Surya Namaskar on terrace but if you start running and doing shuttle run, you will end up damaging your knees and ankles because of hard surface.The very reason that professional players should avoid playing tennis on hard courts in five-star hotels. They are cement courts,” Nehra mentioned.
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The Indian veteran pacer has shown full confidence in BCCI and ICC to give the players some time to train and get back to math fitness once the lockdowns are ended and international cricket is set to resume. Nehra wants the cricketing associations to give the player at least a month’s time to train as they cannot start playing a=ll of a sudden after such a long break.
“And injuries can happen to anyone. The fast bowler who has trained the least might be fitter than fast bowler who has trained the most. The nature of sport is such. But yes, I hope that if lockdown ends, they have access to grounds,” Nehra commented.
Nehra signed from the chat not before warning and sharing a world for the fast bowlers and professional players. Nehra communicated, “Zaheer Khan and Ashish Nehra, after this prolonged break, can afford to come back with a paunch. Not active players. So break ka matlab ye naahi ki biryani khaani hain (A break from sport doesn’t mean you will have biryani).”
