All the Indian fans were hoping that India, who were the winners of the last time, will retain the title when they come to the Asia Cup this time. But to the disappointment of the fans, India was eliminated from the tournament without seeing the final. After winning the first two matches in the group stage, India entered the Super Four and lost to Pakistan and Sri Lanka and were eliminated from the tournament.
One thing that Indian fans can take heart from in the tournament is Kohli’s return to form. But star all-rounder Jadeja was ruled out of the tournament due to a knee injury. With Bumrah and Harshal Patel out of the tournament due to injuries and Rahul and Chahar missing international matches for more than six months due to injuries, it has been a year of injuries for India in short. Now former Indian player Sehwag has come out with a critical observation about this.
“Players get injured not inside the field but outside. Hardik Pandya was injured while bowling. We have never seen Jadeja withdraw from the field with an injury. We learned that he had an injury after the match. That means most players get injured in the gym or outside the stadium. This should be fixed.Skills are important…if you make it to the Indian team then skills are not as important for Jim. Now maybe you’re on a two-month break and fitness is important. I learned this from Sachin Tendulkar.
I have never seen Sachin lift more than 6-8 kg every time he comes into the team. I once asked Sachin, ‘What is the benefit of lifting such light weights?’, and I had a lot to learn from his reply. ‘It is just my maintenance exercise. I have a match to play. That’s enough to keep fit, to keep the body fit’ – I still remember Sachin telling me. You look at today’s players, you’ve seen Virat Kohli and others posting videos of lifting 50-60-70 kgs during a series. It actually increases the risk of injury,” said Sehwag.