Former Indian opener Virender Sehwag has spoken about the reason behind modern-day cricketers being prone to more injuries. Sehwag was speaking on 'The Ranveer Show', hosted by YouTuber Ranveer Alhabadia wherein he talked about the increased focus on weight training and how it is adversely affecting the players and causing them more injuries.
Many key members of the Indian team have been out for extended time due to injury and hence these players have missed major tournaments. Now, Sehwag has spoken about how weightlifting has increased ‘stiffness and soreness’ and has led to these fitness concerns.
He said, “There is no place for weightlifting in cricket. Instead, you should do the exercises that improve your game. Weightlifting will give you strength, but will also increase stiffness and soreness.”
The Nawab of Najafgarh also spoke about players of the generation never suffering certain injuries. He said, “In our days, Aakash Chopra, Gautam Gambhir, Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly, VVS Laxman, MS Dhoni, or Yuvraj Singh, nobody was ruled out due to back, hamstring, or quadricep injuries."
Sehwag then spoke about how today’s players often suffer injuries in the gym and not on the ground. He said, "Whereas KL Rahul, Rohit Sharma, and Shreyas Iyer, have all dealt with such injuries. They are getting injured due to weight training. They get injured in the gym, not on the ground.”
Further in the podcast, Sehwag talked about the importance of personalised programmes for players which suit their body type. He also gave Virat Kohli’s example and stated that not everyone can emulate what he can do.
"We didn't do any weight training in our days, but we were still able to play cricket all day. This could be Virat Kohli's funda. But not everyone is Virat Kohli. You need to prepare a training program based on your own body," he said.
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