In the ongoing five-match Test series between India and England, the young Indian team has been forced to frequently alter their bowling lineup due to a series of injuries sustained by its pacers throughout the tournament.
Ranging from Akash Deep’s groin pull injury at Lord’s to Nitish Kumar Reddy being ruled out of the Anderson-Tendulkar series due to a knee ligament injury. This spike in fast bowlers’ inability to recover after intensive games has raised concerns about India’s current approach to preparation, workload, and rehab for pacers.
What led to the sudden rise in injuries?
One of cricket’s most demanding disciplines, fast bowling puts immense strain on the bowler’s back or their lumbar spine, which can get further aggravated over longer formats. Experts have further listed a sudden increase in workload as a major cause of rising injury issues among Indian bowlers.
“There’s a generation of bowlers getting injured because they didn’t bowl enough deliveries when they were younger,” Steffan Jones, a specialist fast bowling coach who runs PaceLab Ltd and was formerly with Rajasthan Royals, told the Indo-Asian News Service (IANS)
‘Injuries happen when you have workload spikes – in other words, you bowl ten overs one week, and next week, you have to deliver 50 overs,” he explained.
As per Jones, these injuries serve as proof that the younger generation of bowlers has not been able to progressively adapt to playing longer formats of the game
Lack of exposure to high-pressure environments
He further explains that many bowlers are ‘under-bowled’ in high-intensity environments.
“For generations, bowlers haven’t bowled enough balls and then all of a sudden they’re asked to bowl a lot of balls when they’re past 18, which is one of the reasons a lot of bowlers are undercooked and under-bowled in high-intensity bowling.”
“Bowling more balls in the nets is not the same as engaging in high-intensity match-day scenarios. Unfortunately, these net practice sessions are counted as part of their weekly loads, which creates a mismatch between low-volume and high-intensity bowling. Though bowling numbers are monitored via net practice sessions, they aren’t always representative of the intensity in the game”, Jones added.
Poor technique
In his analysis, Jones further cited Indian bowlers’ poor bowling technique as a possible factor that increased their susceptibility to injuries.
“Your ability to present a speedy delivery critically depends on how you generate torque, speed and power in your bowling action. It’s that separating from your pelvis going forward and your trunk being slightly side on that can make the difference for pacers, which is not taught properly in cricketing academies. It’s not being taught correctly because current coaches, who are ex-bowlers, are now coaching the way they played,” Jones explained
Lack of general strength and fitness
Expressing his displeasure with the current benchmarks of fitness for cricketers, Jhones said, “We need to hold cricketers’ fitness standards in parallel to athletes of similar sports like sprint, or javelin throw. Cricketers are not fit or strong enough, that’s a fact, as it’s a blanket statement across every cricketing nation in the world.”
“Until there is an improvement across these areas, bowlers with limited practice in high-intensity environments will remain susceptible to recurring injuries,” he added.
(With Inputs from IANS)