IPL workload pinches teams at World Cup | Cricket - Hindustan Times
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IPL workload pinches teams at World Cup

New Delhi | By
May 27, 2020 05:11 PM IST

How IPL workload has played a part in the number of injuries to top players in the ICC World Cup 2019.

During this year’s IPL, South Africa fast bowler Kagiso Rabada’s exit from the Delhi Capitals’ campaign just ahead of the playoffs due to a back injury caused an upheaval in the franchise’s camp. Although Capital entered the playoffs, they beat Sunrisers Hyderabad in the Eliminator but lost to Chennai Super Kings in Qualifier 2, going out before the final.

India’s Bhuvneshwar Kumar walks off after suffering an injury against Pakistan(Action Images via Reuters)
India’s Bhuvneshwar Kumar walks off after suffering an injury against Pakistan(Action Images via Reuters)

Rabada recovered to feature in the World Cup, but his form was no way near as good as it was during the T20 tournament. When asked about the dip in form, South Africa skipper Faf du Plessis said his premier fast bowler had not listened to his advice that he should skip IPL.

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At the World Cup, South Africa lost the services of spearhead Dale Steyn, who was sent home without playing a single game because of a shoulder injury that had flared up during his brief appearance for Royal Challengers Bangalore. Unlike Australia pacers Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood and Jhye Richardson, who suffered injuries but were rested and spent time in rehab instead of IPL—even Nathan Coulter-Nile pulled out of RCB and Steyn was his replacement—South Africa did not plan well to ensure their players were fit and fresh for the World Cup.

West Indies too saw their trump card Andre Russell—unstoppable in IPL with his astonishing hitting late in the innings for Kolkata Knight Riders—hobbling with a knee problem quite early in the tournament. He was eventually replaced after four games as the Caribbean side’s campaign petered out.

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Bhuvi injury

India’s only wear and tear concern in their impressive campaign has been the hamstring problem suffered by Bhuvneshwar Kumar. He started impressively after being picked ahead of Mohammed Shami and featured prominently in the wins over South Africa and Australia, but limped off against Pakistan. However, he has recovered, and has been bowling at the nets and should be available in the business end of the World Cup.

Considering that India have been on the road from the start of the year, and then played IPL in the summer heat, it has been quite an achievement to keep the players fit. Skipper Virat Kohli, who played all 14 league games for RCB, had asked his players to be smart with their workload before the tournament began.

The only favour International Cricket Council (ICC) did for India was to schedule their first game six days into the World Cup, and then stagger the early games.

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“If you see the last four months, a lot of these players are just playing and playing. With long periods of continuous play, your body is under strain. There is nothing more strenuous than that. Injuries are going to happen. The hamstring is the most common injury to any sportsperson who does high speed running,” says Heath Matthews, physio and sports medicine expert.

“At this point in time, we are quite lucky when you look at the number of injuries in the Indian team. It is very, very less considering the amount of cricket they are playing.” India’s only setback was opener Shikhar Dhawan’s hand fracture suffered while batting against Australia.

Rest and rotation

While Australia managed to keep most of their players from IPL, the concern with the Indians was whether they would be too burdened as they are integral to their franchises. BCCI did its best to rest their players ahead of the IPL. Jasprit Bumrah was kept out of the limited-overs series in Australia and New Zealand. Bhuvneshwar hadn’t played many games over a year or so but was still rested for part of the home ODI series against Australia in March. The Board did what it could and was helped that there were a lot of options, especially in pace bowling.

The hamstring and lower back problems Bhuvneshwar suffered in IPL are the most common injuries fast bowlers suffer. According to experts, they are connected though it is unclear in Bhuvneshwar’s case if one led to the other.

“Any elite level athlete will definitely get injuries. You can’t always push the body to the level of the body they do without getting injuries. The idea is to have a good team around you,” says Matthews. “That they have been able to get Bhuvi up and running in 10 days is very good. That is the quickest you can do with hamstring. I think the sports science in the team is very good, a lot of good communication is happening.”

However, the ideal situation is to be at the level of Australia, New Zealand or England. Among the top teams, they have the fittest players at this World Cup.

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