After India’s exit at the 2022 Asia Cup in the Super 4 stage and with the T20 World Cup coming up in less than five weeks time, former Indian cricketer Virender Sehwag has pointed out a major issue concerning the Indian cricket team at the moment. Sehwag stated that the Men in Blue need to look at the injury issues constantly troubling the national team in recent days.
The ex-Indian opener claimed that it is the manner of injuries that is worrying as players are not getting injured on the field. Sehwag gave the example of how Ravindra Jadeja did not get injuries on the ground and suggested that it means there is something wrong on the outside or in the gym.
“India’s problems have been injuries that didn’t happen on the cricket field. No one is addressing that. Hardik Pandya got injured while bowling. Most of the players are getting injured at the gym or outside the match. We didn’t see Jadeja getting injured on a cricket field. After the match, we came to know that he has an injury. That means the things that are happening outside or in the gym need to be addressed,” said Sehwag on Cricbuzz.
“Skills are important. Once you are in the Indian team and playing a series, gym is not as important as skills. If you have a two-month break, then fitness becomes important,” he added.
Sehwag went on to give Sachin Tendulkar’s example and revealed that he used to lift 6-8 KG of weights while telling that current ones like Virat Kohli shares videos lifting 50-60 KGs on social media.
“I learnt this from Sachin Tendulkar. Whenever he came into the team, I never saw him lifting more than 6-8kg weights. I asked him, ‘what’s the point of lifting such low weights?’ He replied, ‘this is my maintenance. I’ve to play a match, I’m only doing this to keep my rhythm intact, so that I don’t lose my power’,” Sehwag revealed.
“You see the players these days, Virat Kohli and others posting videos of lifting 50-60-70 kg weights during a series, which actually increases the chances of injury,” he concluded.
