Roving Reporter at the Kolkata camp

Finally, turning to yoga

Sidharth Monga in Kolkata

May 5, 2007

Yoga could help Sachin Tendulkar sort out his various injury problems © AFP

What's common between the Indian cricket team and the All Blacks, New Zealand's national rugby team? What does Sachin Tendulkar share with Ryan Giggs? Yoga, the ancient Indian art. The All Blacks do not travel without a yoga expert; Giggs swears yoga has extended his career in its twilight by helping him get over a hamstring problem he had for years. And now yoga could be helping Tendulkar sort out his various injury problems.

It's an irony that yoga, the most quintessential and traditional Indian exercise technique, has caught up with the Indian team after it's been around the world, as it were. There was a yoga trainer during John Wright's days as India coach and at conditioning camps in the early days of Greg Chappell's tenure but it went off the radar soon after

The practice has now been revived but, in keeping with the enigma and intrigue surrounding Indian cricket, details are at a premium. After three days of persistent questioning by the media the credentials of Sukhdev Kumar, the yoga trainer currently working with the Indian team, were revealed by Surendra Bhave, the administrative manager. Kumar, who has been spending about half an hour with the team after every practice session, will not travel to Bangladesh.

Kumar has been drafted in by Ravi Shastri, with whom he had worked with in Singapore, where he is based. Kumar has also worked with Ernie Els and Jyoti Randhawa, the golfers, Wasim Akram and Vijay Amritraj, the former tennis player.

Yoga isn't new to cricket; the Australian team that toured India in 2004-05 came with a yoga instructor on their support staff. That's when Justin Langer got hooked to the art. On the same tour, Langer took time out to visit BKS Iyengar, who has worked with Tendulkar too and also had a few sessions with the Indian team during Greg Chappell's tenure.

Giggs's and Langer's experiences suggest yoga is a special help with back injuries and hamstrings, and thus extending their careers into the mid-30s. S Omkar, one of India's earlier yoga instructors, has said that apart from strengthening the quadriceps and hamstrings, yoga relaxes and helps players stay calm. Ancient practitioners believe yoga is close to meditation, an escape into oneself.

It's not a given that yoga extends careers but a look at some of the more regular practitioners - Langer, Giggs, Matthew Hayden - lends weight to that belief. Hayden, for example, is known to have amazing powers of concentration and his pre-match routine - of studying the pitch for a considerable length of time - suggests a yogic posture.

Considering the views of Dilip Vengsarkar, the chairman of selectors, on the talent pool outside the national team, extending careers is a matter of great urgency. Five thousand years of practice can't be wrong.

Sidharth Monga is a staff writer with Cricinfo Magazine

© Cricinfo

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