Indian players will be rusty but skills and muscle memory are ingrained, admits Nick Webb
Nick Webb has revealed that despite being skilled and ingrained with muscle memory, the Indian cricketers will be a little rusty following COVID-19 break. He also admitted that in terms of planning, the only impact this break will have on the management is knowing when the team will play next.
The immediate future of both, the IPL and the Indian national team is hanging in thin air, following the forced-break caused by the widespread COVID-19. The players are still made to follow their respective individual's plans and schedule for maintaining their fitness and conditioning. India’s head Strenght and Conditioning coach, Nick Webb admitted that the Indian players will be a bit rusty in their expected comebacks but their skills and muscle memory will not be affected by the forced break.
“In terms of muscle memory – You will never lose a skill that you’ve mastered. Our players are exceptionally skillful and have been doing their skill work for a long time now so their motor patterning and skills will be ingrained. Yes they will be rusty from an execution perspective but their skills and muscle memory will be ingrained,” he told Times of India.
However, the former New Zealand rugby trainer added that the break will have an impact on the management’s plans for the team’s comeback. He also revealed that it would be crucial for them to know where the cricketers will play next - whether in the IPL or directly in an international series.
“The only major impact from a performance planning perspective is knowing when the players will be playing next – whether that be IPL or an international series so that we can work backwards from there to ensure they have a sufficient build up to meet the physical demands and to minimise injury risk. We will wait on the direction from the BCCI and Indian Government.
“We just need to wait on the direction from the government and the BCCI on what our schedule looks like in the coming months so that we can plan backwards from the first scheduled matches,” he concluded.