Weight loss and better body composition helped Mohammad Shami stay injury free, says KXIP physio Brett Harrop
Brett Harrop has stated that weight loss and better body composition have made Mohammad Shami injury-free in recent times. The physio has also added that Shami is strictly following the instructions from their national body and was admired on seeing some players in the IPL being self-directed.
Physical fitness is the main thing a cricketer should consider and Indian cricket's increased importance in that regard has helped everyone stay balanced. Mohammad Shami, who has played 40 Test matches and 63 ODIs for India, has been exceptional by maintaining an average of 29.54 and 26.12 in the respective formats, but one major hindrance to his career is injury at several points in his career.Â
KXIP physio Brett Harrop has opined that weight loss and better body composition has made the player injury-free in recent times. The 39-year-old said that being injury free is like a snowball effect and added that the player has maintained it better than the past.Â
“The fact that he is leaner and his body composition is better, that has played a huge part in him being injury-free. It (being injury-free) has a bit of a snowball effect. When you have fewer injuries, you play more and the more you play, it makes you more robust and you are less likely to get injured. So that (better body composition) is definitely the reason why he is in a better spot than in the past,” he added.
The Australian, who has played one first-class game, has said that 2019 being a World Cup year, all World Cup-bound players have been provided instruction by their national team physios on handling their fitness in the IPL season and added that the two players in KXIP KL Rahul and Mohammad Shami are strictly following the instructions of their national bodies.
“The main thing (this season) has been the interest from national bodies, which have been asking about their schedule and how their travel has been, their communication with the national team’s physio. Other than that I have not noticed anything much. All the concerned players are aware that it is a World Cup year but at the same time are focused on their job in the IPL”, he said.
Speaking about the routine of Shami and Rahul, the physio said that they are well concerned about their fitness after every matches they played.
“With someone like Shami, it has been about just recovery from match to match as he and also Rahul have been playing every game. The guys who have not been playing have been lifting more weights, doing more intense running sessions. Guys like Shami and Rahul have been playing every game so it has been more about mobility and recovery and maintaining some strength at the same time”, 39-year-old said.
The physio added that some of the players in the IPL are self-directed on maintaining their fitness and don’t need an external trainer to guide them.Â
“The level of knowledge the players have about their bodies is really impressive. They understand the science. Don’t know where it originates from but when I arrived here for the IPL, I saw guys like Mayank Agarwal and Mandeep Singh. They were self-directed (when it came to fitness) and did not need a trainer to push them hard. They had specific exercises and there was a purpose to them and they were correct. It was very professional,” he concluded.