Legendary Indian batter Sunil Gavaskar is not in the favour of Indian fast bowlers lifting heavy weights in the gym as it may lead to them getting injured. Gavaskar believes that fast bowlers do not need to lift weights to bowl fast.
"If you look at all these injuries that happen, happen when you are trying to lift weights. I am no expert and I could be wrong, but I think they are trying to lift weights much more than what they should be doing. I don't think that helps your cricket. It did not happen in the fast and in the past bowlers did not get these many back injuries," Gavaskar told Sports Today after India’s Asia Cup squad announcement.
Jasprit Bumrah and Prasidh Krishna recently returned to the international side in the three-T20I series against Ireland. Both of them were out of action for nearly a year. Also, KL Rahul and Shreyas Iyer have been picked for the Asia Cup squad after a long injury layoff.
Gavaskar believes that Ajit Agarkar's appointment as chief selector may lead to answers to these questions.
"I do believe that cricketing fitness is more important. I think Ajit Agarkar being the chairman of the selection committee will be able to throw light on the fact what bio-mechanics experts are doing right now in the franchises," the 74-year-old said.
"You have to get cricket fit. It is not the question of how many miles you run on the treadmill, it is about how many miles you run with the ball," he added.
Gavaskar also looked happy with the ODI squad for Asia Cup. He also explained why Sanju Samson and Yuzvendra Chahal were not selected.
“Clearly, if Sanju Samson had got more runs, then he would have been certainly in the team, so with Chahal. But sometimes you’re looking at the balance of the team,’ he said.
"Maybe, you can say that Kuldeep is a handy batter down the order, so maybe that’s why he gets the nod ahead of Chahal. Also, he brings a left-hand variety.”
