Transition to IPL should be fun, says IPL's first female support staff Navnita Gautam

Transition to IPL should be fun, says IPL's first female support staff Navnita Gautam

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Navnita Gautam, who joined RCB as IPL's first female support staff, has stated that the transition to the IPL, having previously worked with Toronto Nationals in GLT20, would be a fun one for her. Gautam had earlier worked in India women's basketball team during the Asia Cup campaign last year.

Royal Challengers Bangalore roped in Navnita Gautam as a massage therapist for IPL 2020 and it instantly became big news as IPL teams rarely appoint female staff in their team. In the past, Deccan ChargersĀ had Ashleigh Joyce and Patricia Jenkins working as massage therapists in 2008 and 2009, but for the next 10 years, there was no female staff appointed by any team.

On being asked if she had any apprehensions, Gautam replied, "Absolutely not.Ā "It's like having 20 brothers around at all times. Slowly but surely, the transition is happening. I believe that as long as the players and support staff trust your work, gender shouldn't be an issue as we are all healthcare professionals working together as a team to get athletes back on the field."

At RCB, Gautam's major work will be assisting head physiotherapist Evan Speechly and strength and conditioning coach Basu Shankar. She will also be expected to administer specialised techniques to deal with physical ailments of individual players, and having previously worked with Toronto Nationals in the Global T20 League, she believes her new work to be fun.

"The experience with Toronto Nationals in the Global T20 league was above and beyond amazing. Thus, the transition to IPL should be a fun one. One of the challenges would be to understand every athlete's body type/muscle quality and their likes and dislikes towards what type of treatment benefits them the most. Once I understand that, I think it'll be pretty smooth sailing from then onwards."

"Cricket is a high-intensity speed endurance sport whereby a bowler needs to bowl frequently with a 30-45 seconds break in between every delivery multiple times. There is also a chance that the bowler needs to make a quick sprint right after his delivery. Also, this is the same for a fielder who needs to react and sprint quickly to grab the ball and for a batsman who needs to run fast again and again."

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