Cricket fitness vs Gym Fitness: Cricketers now no longer rely only on their skills to make a difference. Here’s how fitness give cricketers (and their team) the edge. Top cricketers share their views and also tell us the difference between Cricket fitness and gym fitness.
Finally, Fitness Matters in Cricket
In the distant past, Indian cricketers would eat biscuits with tea, savour greasy food. There was a time when Indian cricketers had pathetic fitness levels; even Sri Lankan fielders were considered far more athletic than Indian fielders.
However, the Men in Blue today are much more professional in their approach and prepare scientifically as they blend ideal work-outs, monitored diets and perfect sleep-patterns.
“I have cut down on my food, I follow a diet and people laugh about it when I tell them that. It’s not strict but I avoid stuff doctors tell me to. I don’t eat sweets or bread, it has helped me a lot,” says Mohammed Shami who was out of action for almost two years due to ankle injury. Read: Pakistan fans blame burger, poor fitness for defeat to IndiaThere’s no doubt that the fitness levels of cricketers have gone up in recent years. They all give importance to their fitness, which can be seen by the way teams field nowadays. “If you train hard you can play easy,” Ben Stokes on fitness.
“I see all of them together, the coaches, the fitness trainers and also I think the change in culture. The fitness regimes, the fitness standards not only among the fast bowlers but also among the batters has changed enormously,” says Sourav Ganguly.
The good thing is that even though fitness standards among Indian cricketers have improved over the years, the Indian cricket board wants to make them the fittest side in the world.
For Indian Cricket Board, Fitness is a Key Parameter
Fitness today is a top priority in Indian cricket!
“If I put my hand on my heart and say after the Champions Trophy, we felt that, we need to be a fitter and a stronger side. We felt that we need to raise our fitness levels and we need to raise our fielding standards. Skill-level, we are number one in the world, when it comes to fitness, we need to raise our standards. Today, the entire world has got fitness standards. Though we are slow, I am sure we will definitely catch up,” said MSK Prasad, India’s chairman of the senior selection committee in 2019.
India’s selection body feels fitness is a key issue for the Indian men’s team that need to be addressed at the earliest. They have certain fitness parameters in place and players are usually selected only if they are able to meet those fitness parameters.
How Cricketers Benefit from Fitness
Indian cricketers are now more disciplined, they eat better, they work on their fitness, and the team is as good as an athletic team, and the results are clear for everybody to see.
Top advantages of having a physically supreme fit side:
- Faster batsmen add more runs to the scoreboard by their running between the wickets (You can see that when Virat Kohli and Dhoni are at the crease).
- Powerful batsmen can hit more sixes (See the difference when Virat Kohli or MS Dhoni strikes the ball, versus when Ajinkya Rahane hits the ball). Virat’s new fitness levels allows him to hit sizes with ease. MS Dhoni’s helicopter shot requires very strong arms & wrists.
- Fit fielders stop many runs and cause spectacular dismissals, through catches and run-outs (Jonty Thodes, Ravindra Jadeja from India)
- Fitter bowlers can maintain pace and accuracy for longer spells and even towards the end of the innings. Today, (Jasprit) Bumrah, (Mohammed) Shami, Ishant (Sharma), and Umesh (Yadav) are much fitter and bowl much quicker now (140 and 145 kmph).
Life of Modern Professional Cricketer
A modern professional cricketer’s life revolves around airports, hotels, cricket grounds, gym and nets.
There’s pressure to attain the highest level of skill and fitness. To keep up with these extremely high standards, today’s professional cricketer require the best scientific, technological and physical aid at his disposal. This is where the physiotherapists and sport science experts are so crucial to a sportsman’s success.
“There has been a lot of research and studies done on the risk factors with regards to injuries to cricketers in South Africa, England and Australia and those findings do not necessarily hold true for Indian players.
It is also interesting that within the Indian team there are differences between the South Indian and North Indian boys. Genetically and structurally they are very different.
There are a lot of things we need do in India to investigate and establish effective systems for monitoring these players’ fitness based on their training and playing routines, and their bodies’ responses to these routines.
One of the things we need to do is to examine closely over a long period of time how these guys train, how they recover from training and matches, and how training and matches affect their techniques and bowling speeds,” Patrick Farhart (physiotherapist).
Different Roles Have Different Fitness Requirements
Batsmen
In test matches, Batsmen have to stay at the crease for as long as possible (more than a day), and have to be focused and have the stamina to play the shots. Batsmen need strong core, abdominal mid-section and the ability to generate explosive upper body actions.
Fielders
Fielders have to be on their toes all the time. There bodies have to be ready to produce explosive bursts every now and then – be it for chasing the ball racing towards the boundary, or for jumping/diving to take a catch.
Bowlers
Bowlers require explosive strength and speed (fast bowlers especially), combined with good muscular endurance, in order to be able to ball several overs at a stretch. They need strong arms as well. Fast Bowlers are more prone to injuries to their shoulders and to their knees.
Cricket Fitness vs Gym Fitness
Playing cricket requires a different kid of fitness, compared to other sports. Even the exercises that you do in the gym as part of your regular fitness routine may not help you perform to the best of your abilities. Besides, Batsmen, fielders, bowlers they all require different sets of exercises.
“Cricket fitness is different to gym fitness and it varies with individuals. Gym fitness is done to top up cricket fitness, not the other way round. You must go to the gym but you can do it in the off season. And there’s no off-season these days. I can’t be off bowling for 15 days. Everybody’s regime is different,” Ashish Nehra.
Various cricket teams in India now have fielding fitness programs.
A fielding fitness programme is about incorporating practical aspects of fielding into fitness, like cutting angles, going down and collecting the ball, and attacking the stumps as quickly as possible. This requires solid agility, reaction time and speed and has to be combined with fielding skills. There are more than a hundred drills.
Fitness has transformed the game for many cricketers. With better fitness, a batsman is able to using his feet more against bowlers, and is able to produce better results, especially against spinners. Improved fitness makes you feel lighter and lets you play long innings.
Indian fast bowler Ashish Nehra has spent a lot of time sitting in the sidelines because off injury. He says being injured and unfit are different things (many in India assume he is unfit). Nehra says Fast bowlers are usually either struggling with hamstring or bad knees. But that is injury. That doesn’t mean they are unfit (In India, things are misinterpreted). Unfit is someone gasps for breath in training.
“IPL is tougher than international T20s. You get rest after three games in international tournaments. You can’t preserve yourself and bowl in IPL. If I am feeling good then I might play all the games otherwise you also look at the situation of the team.”
“You can evolve as much as you want but the basics are same. As a fast bowler you need to know how to hit the right spot. You should know how to bowl an in-swinger, an out-swinger and a bouncer.” Ashish Nehra.
After a hectic day of playing cricket, Sachin Tendulkar used to do inhalation exercises & meditation as a stress-buster.
“I wasn’t physically unfit, but fielding was sort of torturing for me, while batting was my passion. The art of running between the wickets was like a shuttle relay. The skill to accelerate, decelerate and quickly take a turn for another run was accomplished due to better physical fitness,” said Tendulkar.
Arjuna Ranatunga, the 1996 World Cup winning Sri Lankan skipper on Cricket Fitness.
Question: With several teams (including India) putting extra emphasis on fitness, do you think cricket has changed enough to make skill secondary? Between skill and fitness, what will you pick?
Arjuna: I think if you don’t have skill, it’s better for someone to get some models and allow them to play cricket. You need skill and talent as far as cricket is concerned. Fitness is very important, but I don’t agree with some of these comments made by some of the people who haven’t played cricket. Overall, it’s all about cricket talent and the most important thing is cricket fitness. I think what we lack at the moment; some of our players are very fit, but they don’t have cricket fitness. Some of our politicians can’t understand that.Question: What is cricket fitness?
Arjuna: When you are a batsman, you need to bat for a longer period. When you are a bowler, you need to bowl certain number of overs. Some of the fast bowlers who played under me, they used to bowl at least one-and-a-half hours for a day and at least three-four days for a week, and they never had any injuries at that time. So that’s where people should realise what is cricket fitness. There were players even under my captaincy who could run 25 rounds at the SSC. But they couldn’t bowl more than four-five overs. So you need to understand, when you are a sports authority, what cricket fitness is all about.
“What was noticeable thought that even the super fit Virat Kohli had to ask for drinks a couple of times other than the usual drinks interval. That can happen because of the break he had been given. While such periods are good for mental rest and to refresh yourself, the only was to stay physically fit is through match practise. If there is a stretch where there has been no action, then irrespective f the amount of time one spends in the gym, one can never replicate a match situation, where a player is also sweating it oout in the sun and losing hydration and at the same time getting mentally tired reacting to the match situation as it develops,” Sunil Gavaskar
Use of Scientific Methods to Improve Fitness
DNA/genetic fitness test for Indian cricketers
DNA/genetic fitness test helps sportsmen improve their speed, endurance, recovery time, and muscle building.
Indian cricket management is leaving no stone upturned to raise the fitness levels of Indian cricketers.
BCCI has introduced DNA/genetic fitness test (on recommendation of team trainer Shankar Basu) in order to chalk out a more comprehensive fitness programme for the national cricket team.
The DNA test reveals the genetic fitness blueprint of an individual, it gives an idea about how 40 plus genes are related to a person’s fitness, health, and nutrition. Each cricketer’s DNA data is then combined with the environmental data which is the individual’s body weight and diet, for an all-round analysis.
Earlier, the Indian cricket team used to undergo Skinfold Test for body fat measure percentage, but because the measurements were not accurate enough, they later switched to DEXA test for calculation of body fat percentage.
The DNA test is being done so that the body’s needs are known to maintain a particular fat percentage.
It is learnt that some of the cricketers did not know why, after rigorous amount of training, they were not able to bring down their fat percentage to a certain level.
“Some of them have been having copious amount of milk since childhood as it is a common belief that milk gives you strength. Then they found out that despite training, their body is not able to measure up to the demands of modern day game. When this test started, some players understood that they are lactose intolerant or some who have fetish for mutton biryani know what their body needs after eating a particular kind of food”.
One of the players whose strength and stamina has tremendously improved has been pacer Bhuvneshwar Kumar, who has been consistently playing ODIs and T20 Internationals, purely because of a new fitness routine that was prepared after getting his genetic fitness report.
The DNA test is believed to test the body’s abilities and what kind of diet and exercise are most effective for a particular player.
As of now, the permissible body fat percentage limit for a senior national team player is 23 percent, which is standard for most of the international cricket teams.
The DNA test was first introduced in the NBA (basketball) and the NFL in the United States.
Understanding the Sleep-Wake cycle
Indian cricketers are now aware of the circadian rhythm. The human body has a particular sort of sleep-wake cycle but that takes a beating during IPL, when the cricketers sleep late – 2 o’clock, 3 o’clock.
But now the boys understand the value of sleep-wake cycle, good nutrition programme, supplements, training, strength work, conditioning and warm-ups.
After the IPL, Indian players are given adequate rest as too much cricket have been counter-productive for the team in the past.
Exercises & Workouts
In a day and age where bowlers focus more on variations, some fast bowlers (like Mitchell Johnson) still bowl with the purpose of instilling fear in the batsman’s mind.
“Fitness has changed a lot. Earlier the running programmes were all the same and we all did the same thing. As a fast bowler one needs to be strong in the core and the glutes – doing a lot of single leg workouts is essential.” – Mitchell Johnson
Mitchell also warned youngsters not to get carried away and sweat out in the gym for long durations.
“You can’t just go to the gym and try and get very big. There’s no point if you get too big in the upper body, a fast bowler loses his flexibility. It’s all about core and lower body strength. Playing T20, what’s the point of running 5-10 kms?”.
Also Read: Yo-Yo Fitness Test: Here’s why everyone is talking about it
And for fast bowlers, mental strength is also important, says Johnson.
“I can’t remember a game where I have felt totally fresh, without niggles. You always have a niggle (discomfort), it’s your mental capacity that matters. It’s a long process and I am still learning”, he stated.
Bowler Umesh Yadav, who used to play with Tennis ball, made his first-class debut at the age of 20.
“The first two years I could not understand whether the ball would go out, in or straight. Then my coaches stepped in to help me. However, all along I knew my pace would take me somewhere. There were a lot of bowlers who could bowl in the 130-135kmph bracket. I knew you would be called different if you could bowl every ball at 140kmph and you would eventually get a chance,” says Umesh Yadav.
Importance of RecoveryUmesh says while fitness is important, its also very important to learn how to recover after a game. If you don’t do that, you cannot survive for long.
“The body is strong initially to a point but if you don’t strengthen it, it would collapse. So now whenever I get the time, I work on my recovery. The way oil is important for the engine, fitness and recovery is important for me.”
Here are the exercises that every cricketer should do regularly:
- Aerobic Training, Cardio exercises/drills: Boosts your VO2 max and improves stamina
- Shuttle sprints (most sprints are about 5 to 40 meters in a match, so train accordingly.
- Exercises to develop explosive power (such as plyometric circuit)
- Strength workout / muscle building
- Hand Eye drills, such as throwing and catching drills. Sharpens the Neuro-muscular system
- Foot drills (using a rope ladder, etc.)
Suggested exercises:
- Bench press: Excellent upper-body exercise for batters, bowlers
- Back Exercises: Most of the time, cricketers are in a bent-over position during the game, so a strong back is vital to avoid injury.
- Squats: Great exercise for your lower body (add lunges)
- Exercises for a strong core: Improves total-body dynamics and minimizes injuries.
Here are some more Cricket Fitness & Exercise Videos
Here are some more useful external links:
Indian Cricketers Look to Footballers for Discipline and Fitness
Indian cricket captain Virat Kohli says Indian cricketers always look up to professional football players for discipline and fitness.
Virat Kohli agrees that professional footballers have much better fitness levels than cricketers, and says cricket is not a sport which requires amazing physical endurance. Football requires one to be at their absolute best in order to take the field; football players are also very particular about professionalism, in terms of physical preparation, nutrition and rest periods.
“I think the only people who can be compared to an extent in terms of endurance are fast bowlers. Football is such a fast game and played within 90 minutes where you have to be absolutely fit to take control of the situation. In cricket, the fitness level requirement is not as high (as football). But if you strive to be as fit as footballers, then you do things at a different level in cricket. That’s what we look forward to. If we take our fitness level higher, we will perform at another level,” says Virat.
Football during Training Sessions
Most cricketing teams commonly play football during training sessions, be it before a Test match, limited-overs international or even the Indian Premier League matches.
Football serves several purposes in a cricket set-up.
It helps players with their fitness, promotes team bonding and camaraderie and keeps players instincts sharp. It helps in fitness training and is a great stress buster as well.
Virat Kohli often carries his football boots for practice. He believes, the sport is an energy booster. “Whenever the team is feeling down or we’ve had a hectic travel day and don’t have the energy to do normal warm-up, football gives the extra motivation to run after a ball and show our skills. Basically, it gets the competitive nature out in a big way. Whenever we feel like we have to bond as a team and get our energy going we have a quick game of football and we are ready to go”.
Football helps in fitness training as well. “When we play for long, we can actually go on for 40-45 minutes that burns you out completely. I’m someone who cannot control myself I keep running back and forth. If you are not someone who likes to run laps around the ground, just play football for 40 minutes,” added the Indian skipper.
All-rounder Ravindra Jadeja caught the football bug at the national team. “I started playing football as a pre-practice routine when I joined the Indian team in 2009. We enjoy our football before practice. When I get some free time, I try to work on my football skills as I love the sport. The sport also works well as a stress buster, said the Ronaldo fan.
Virat Kohli and M.S. Dhoni, both own teams in the Indian Super League (ISL).
Top Fittest Cricketers
The Indian cricket board has been stressing on the importance of fitness among the players and want them to be among the best athletes in the world. and the results are showing off as there are many players who are now extremely fit.
Here are the fittest Indian cricketers.
The first name is of course Virat Kohli. Virat has excellent aerobic fitness making him quick between the wickets, and generates raw power that helps him to easily hit those sixes. Virat Kohli is not just the fittest Indian cricketer, his supreme fitness levels outs him in the same league as these International cricketers, when it comes to fitness.
MS Dhoni is another Indian cricketer who has similar fitness levels. We have seen him play explosive innings, hit huge sixes, especially the helicopter shot (that requires very strong wrists). Dhoni is also very quick between the wickets.
Jumping push-ups by Hardik Pandya & Virat Kohli
Virat Kohli and Hardik Pandya are among the fittest Indian cricketers. Here they are doing flying push ups and demonstrating their immense strength.
Virat Kohli doing flying push-ups
Hardik Pandya doing flying push-ups
Among the bowlers, Japrit Bumrah and Umesh Yadav seems to be the fittest of the lot. They can bowl long spells and are able to generate tremendous pace.
Jasprit Bumrah’s six-pack abs
Indian star batsman Virat Kohli and star bowler Jasprit Bumrah recently shared a picture of themselves bare-chested; their flat six-pack abs clearly visible.
Some time back, Bumrah had uploaded a video of him lifting weights.
“Strength grows in the moments when you think you can’t go on but you keep going anyway. Good session at the gym today. #stayfit #RaiseTheBar”.
Strength grows in the moments when you think you can’t go on but you keep going anyway. Good session at the gym today. #stayfit #RaiseTheBar 💪💪🏋️♂️ pic.twitter.com/iSItrnc79O
— Jasprit bumrah (@Jaspritbumrah93) November 14, 2017
Picture of more Indian cricketers seen bare-chested, and it seems only Virat and Jasprit have six-packs abs (wish MS Dhoni was in there)
.Here are the fittest International Cricketers
There are many more fit cricketers such as Faf Du Plessis, Andrew Symmonds, Mitchel Johnson, AB De Villiers, who are able to give super-hero like efforts while batting, bowling, and fielding.
Here are a couple of names worth mentioning.
Andre Russell – Just one look at this West Indian cricket cricketer, and you can see all those muscles (even when he is not trying to show them off). He can hit massive sizes, bowls fast, and takes some unbelievable catches.
Jonty Rhodes: One cricketer who became a household name only because of his fielding is none other than former South Africa cricketer Jonty Rhodes. Supremely agile and athletic, Jonty would dive left, right, and center on the field. He has taken some breathtaking catches and was responsible for several stunning run-outs, including that of Inzamam ul haq, where a diving Jonty took the bails off while still air-borne.
Jonty, who is now retired, has this unique way to promote fitness in India. Jonty now asks every fan to take a push-up challenge for each selfie with the star fielder. You need to do 10 push-ups, in return for a selfie with the South African.
Pakistani wicketkeeper misbehaves after failing fitness test, asks “charbee kaha hain”
After failing one of the fitness tests, a frustrated Umar Akmal (Pakistani wicketkeeper) is reported to have exposed himself and asked the trainer “bataye charbee kaha hain (tell me where is the fat)”.
In order to improve the cricketing standards of the country, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) is keen to maintain high fitness standards not just in international but also in domestic cricket. As per the latest guidelines, each provincial side is required to undergo fitness tests on a quarterly basis. The junior Akmal may face sanctions.
Pakistan fans blame burger, poor fitness for defeat to India
After Pakistan’s poor show against arch-rivals India in their World Cup 2019 encounter, pictures of Pakistani players having burgers the night before the important match has infuriated Pak fans.
In order to stay healthy, one has to exercise and also eat the right kind of diet. And if you happen to be a sportsperson, diet plays an even more important role in the person’s overall fitness.
Top athletes are disciplined to stay away from certain kind of food. So it indeed comes as a surprise that Pakistani cricketers gorged on burgers and shakes the night before a crucial match, and that too with their arch-rivals.
While winning and losing is part of a game, not being disciplined is something that should be criticised, especially if you happen to be an international level sportsperson.
When was the last time you have seen a sportsperson yawning in the middle of the match/game?
So the anger displayed by Pakistani fans is justified in this case.
It seems Pakistani players were at the 360 Shisha lounge and as per sources, Pakistani captain Sarfaraz Ahmed ate 4 burgers and had cream shakes at the lounge. No wonder, he was caught yawning during the match.
Pakistani players were at 360 shisha lounge at Wimslow Road, Manchester a night before the biggest game of the World cup. Not sure if that was wise and accordingly to a very reliable source Sarfaraz ate 4 burgers 🍔🍔🍔🍔, indeed that reflected in his performance. pic.twitter.com/Ss4vR8OqsC
— RungUK (@UkRung) June 16, 2019
Here’s another tweet where a fan reveals that former cricket great Imran Khan never allowed fast bowler Wasim Akram to have burger after even practice sessions.
Feel the difference…..
— Comrade Junaid (@ProductionAadar) June 16, 2019
Imran didn't allow Wasim to have burger after practice session
Sarfaraz was having burgers & cream shakes with team a night before big match against India in WC.
Imran was ahead of this team even 31 years ago pic.twitter.com/G4owmhk91J
Indian tennis player Sania Mirza was also present at the venue along with her husband Shoaib Malik and other Pakistani players.
India wholeheartedly thanks Sania Mirza for taking the paki boys & her hubby out for party till 2AM b4 #INDvPAK match 😉 pic.twitter.com/g1gBK15hSD
— NewEnglandRa (@NewenglandRa) June 16, 2019
Cricket Fitness Training Equipment
Besides your cricket kit, you will also need Fitness Equipment for your day today exercise routine. Exercise bands, hand grip, ankle weights, skipping rope, are some of the fitness equipment that every cricketer should have handy.
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