If mountain won’t come to training, mask will

After his long practice session at the Wankhede Stadium on Tuesday, Rohit Sharma rushed back to the dressing room and returned quickly to the ground, all masked up.

He set his stop-watch before wearing the training mask that is used mostly by marathon runners to increase lung capacity and anaerobic thresholds, which in turn improves stamina. Several Indians players have been strapping on the masks for the past couple of months to increase their oxygen efficiency and it has apparently also helped them burn fat from the body.

“I have been using this for the past two-three months now. It increases your stamina and also helps in losing weight. If you have a couple of rounds with this mask then it’s not easy to breathe. Basically when you run with it, you burn your body fat more than before,” Sharma said after the practice session.

Modern-day cricket demands a lot of stamina and flexibility on the field and these low-oxygen masks essentially help in building up endurance over a period of time. It’s akin to athlete’s high-altitude training, though in a compact environment.

Building Endurance

The mask was first introduced to the players by current India team trainer Ramji Srinivasan during one of the practice sessions. Many players soon

... contd.