Will Sehwag be match-fit?

Imagine the scenario… Virender Sehwag walks into the ground, he smiles, the photographers click away.

The right-hander sings a song as he settles into his stance… this feels good, he smiles again, the photographers are at their shutter-snappy best again.

He whacks the ball straight over the bowler’s head, he smiles and the photographers go into frenzy. Sehwag looks fit, he looks good.

A few balls down the line, Sehwag whacks the ball again. But this time, the smile is missing. It has been replaced by a grimace. The photographers don’t mind – they’ve got their story.

It’s an imaginary scenario but somehow, after having watched Zaheer limp out of the first Test, it is a fear that feels very real. India desperately need Sehwag – they do. They need him to push back the advancing England back into their corner; they need him to turn things around; they need him because of his genius.

But for starters, India will need to forget their desperation. They need to think objectively and ask the one question that needs to be asked: Is Sehwag match fit? A half-fit opener will only add to India’s problems and there is plenty to worry about already.

The Delhi-based opener underwent shoulder reconstruction around ten week backs in May and had a long stint in the NCA but he hasn’t played any competitive cricket since. Now, in England, he is being looked upon as a saviour. But let’s cut through the chaff and get real.

John Gloster, who was the Indian team’s physio between 2005 and 2008, feels that while Sehwag should be okay to bat – fielding and bowling will be out of the question.

“Generally, it takes around 8-10 weeks to heal and batting is possible. Throwing and fielding will not be possible. That takes around 12-16 weeks but we will need to remember that right after the Tests, there will be a pretty intense ODI series. You don’t want them saying that if he could play the Tests, he should play the ODIs too,” said Gloster.

“Sehwag’s throwing arm will be a problem but during a Test, you can get by. He can field in the slips and not throw the ball. But his physiotherapy will need to continue before and after the match. The load on his shoulder will have to be increased gradually. The injury management will need to be done carefully because India have a tough tour of Australia coming up,” he further added.

We’ve often heard the term ‘match fit’ in recent times. But what exactly does being match fit really mean and how is it different from what you, I or the watchman possesses?

The difference, Gloster believes, is that each job requires a different set of muscles and being match-fit for a bowler like Zaheer would mean having done the hard miles well before coming into the series. It refers to how an individual is able to cope with the demands of the sport in a realistic manner, rather than just being physically fit.

“In that sense, I think the old school got it right. There’s no better training than bowling long spells. The more you bowl, the smoother your action will become, the fitter you will be,” he said. “Every ball that you bowl is counted – whether it’s in the nets or the match. So they have to be careful of over-load themselves. But they need to bowl a lot because no matter how skilled you are, if you are out of the game due to fitness issues you can’t do much.”

There is a lot of talk about too much cricket. But have a look at the county cricket circuit and you will notice that their workload is very high – almost 3-4 games a week throughout the season – as well. But if you manage that load well, you emerge stronger and fitter – as Zaheer, Sreesanth, Mathew Hayden, Stuart Law and a host of other players will testify.

And that is why practice games are necessary – not just the odd one thrown in as an after-thought but two-three games that allow the player to get into the groove once again. Sehwag and Zaheer, won’t have luxury. They almost never will which is why we hope that they won’t break down once again. Because given how the Board of Control for Cricket in India operates, there can be no certainties; there can only be hope.