Leipus back, on domestic duty

‘‘This is the first time that there will be an elaborate coaching course for physios and trainers in India’’, NCA director Brijesh Patel said in Kolkata today. ‘‘Something of this intensity has never been tried out here before.’’

‘‘The dates haven’t been finalised but the camp has been keeping the domestic structure in mind’’, BCCI joint secretary Gautam Dasgupta told The Indian Express. ‘‘If things go as per plan we might even make this a regular feature in the future.’’

Current Team India physio John Gloster will not be a part of the camp but has instead been left to concentrate on the senior team.

The BCCI feels that the domestic circuit also requires physios to concentrate on the fitness of first class cricketers and Leipus, who in Dasgupta’s words has ‘‘an excellent understanding of the existing Indian set-up’’ would be the ideal person to help the ideas percolate.

Explaining how it would work, Patel said Leipus would conduct Level 1 and Level 2 courses for about 30 physios and 30 trainers, one each from each state.

‘‘The whole idea’’, he said, ‘‘is to ensure that the players picking up injuries in the domestic circuit should be able to get the right guidance from expert/trained physios and trainers.’’

All this time, he added, there was no system in place. ‘‘Players in the domestic circuit get injured, but don’t find adequately trained people in the state associations.’’

That is the sad truth. Only five associations — Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Mumbai, Maharashtra and Gujarat — currently boast a fully qualified physio, so the camp will also see part-timers involved.

Yet the response is likely to be positive, given that physios usually come way down the pecking order. One man looking forward to it is Maharashtra’s Dr Vaibhav Daga, who has worked with Leipus before. ‘‘Every time there’s been such a camp, his (Leipus) advice has been of a lot of help. This time around, he will have upgraded knowledge on sports science and my colleagues and I really look forward to it.’’