Cricket docs hedge bets on Mumbai outcome

Coming to the fitness level of the Lankan team,he said: “Due to a great deal of injury surveillance,there is lesser number of players with injuries.”

While certain injuries are common to all teams — such as fast bowlers and fielders being prone to shoulder and even foot injuries — a lot of care is taken for foot anomalies in the Lankan team from the very beginning. “A lot of attention is given to the footwear for players. For this,a podiatrician (a professional who looks into foot disorders) is working with the team. Moreover,in Sri Lanka,we have two pools of players. While one is the Under-19 squad,the the other is the development squad under 23 years of age. All foot problems that the players may face are taken care of at the under 19 level,” said Thurairaja.

He also presented a paper on “Elite Training in Young Cricketers of Sri Lanka” at the conference.

On the World Cup final on April 2,Thurairaja said: “If you look at the graph of the two teams during this tournament,Sri Lanka has fulfilled what was expected of them. While they beat New Zealand in the semifinal,India lost to South Africa — which was unexpected — and it tied its match with England.”

“The only factor that can be detrimental is dew. Because of it,the ball becomes slippery. It can change the game,” said Thurairaja,who is also the sports medicine consultant with the Under 19 and Under 23 pools of cricketers.

Dr Mandeep Dhillon of the department of Orthopedics at PGIMER and former medical consultant to the Sri Lankan team,said: “While Indian batting has an edge over Sri Lankan,the Lankans have a good line up of bowlers. But the problem with both the teams is that the bowlers tend to breakdown.”

Moreover,Sri Lankan bowlers have a history of chronic injuries. “When a good bowler nurses an injury,he tends to overlook the pain and continue to bowl even for extra overs. This is where the problems begins. In the Indian squad,except Virender Sehwag,who sustained a shoulder injury a short while ago,all others are fit.”

Speaking on the diversity of Indian players,Dhillon said: “This diversity is the uniqueness of India and Team India. It may be a technical disadvantage but it cannot hamper their performance. I am more friendly with the Sri Lankan team,but the cup belongs to India,” he said with confidence.

While speaking to Newsline,Dr Saleem Sohail,head of the Sports Medicine department in Pakistan,said: “As per a recent study,the nature and number of injuries to Pakistani and Australian cricketers are similar. The study was conducted on six Australian and 22 Pakistani domestic teams. Though the number of Australian players was less in the study,but the number of matches played by the Pakistani teams were less.”