'Not Everyone Is Virat Kohli': Virender Sehwag Slams Gym-Culture, Says This Trend Is Causing Injuries To Cricketers

Sehwag says that weightlifting exercises are not fit for cricketers and the trainers must understand the every cricketer and body is different and applying one routine for all will lead to more injuries

Source: Twitter

Former Indian batter Virender Sehwag has come out hard on the current training practices in the Indian cricket team where cricketers spend more time than required in the gym. Sehwag feels that some of the workouts which are part of a cricketer's gym sessions are the real reason behind the frequent injuries occuring to them. India pacer Jasprit Bumrah has been absent for last 8 months due to a back injury. Shreyas Iyer has been in and out of the team courtesy his back trouble too. In the past, cricketers have complained about knee injuries. Sehwag believes that it is largely due to Indian team trainers' applying one fit-for-all regimes for cricketers, not knowing who is comfortable doing which exercise.

"In our days, 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 said on TRS Clips.

Sehwag added that in his days, no cricketer did weight taining and were still able to perform well and retain match-fitness in all conditions. 

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"....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.

Citing an example of R Ashwin, Sehwag said that he was made to do clean-and-jerk workouts because it was in trend. Sehwad said that even those athletes who start doing clean and jerk from childhood suffer injuries. Someone who starts doing it after 30 years of age is surely going to suffer even more. He added that both Ashwin and Axar Patel had problems with their knees due to this very workout.

Sehwag concluded speaking about this point by saying that weightlifting and other such exercises are not for cricketers as they may increase one's strength but they also increase the stiffness and soreness in the body.