'Learnt this from Sachin Tendulkar' - Virender Sehwag on why Team India stars are getting injured regularly

Team India had a disappointing run in the just-concluded Asia Cup, where they failed to get past the Super Four round. After topping their group, India lost their opening two games in the Super Four and bowed out despite thumping Afghanistan by 101 runs. Ahead of the T20 World Cup 2022 edition, in Australia from October-November, former Indian opener-turned-commentator Virender Sehwag opened up on a glaring issue that Indian players need to address.

In the recent past, there have been a lotof injury concerns for the Men in Blue. The likes of Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul, Jasprit Bumrah, Ravindra Jadeja, Hardik Pandya, Harshal Patel, etc. have been injured, which has added to India's woes. In the Asia Cup, Jadeja was ruled out with a knee injury and is very likely to not be a part of the T20 WC squad. Thus, Sehwag feels Indian players shouldn't lift heavy weights in the gym during the course of a series.

“India's problems have been injuries that didn't happen on the cricket field. No one is addressing that. Hardik Pandya got injured while bowling. Most of the players are getting injured at the gym or outside the match. We didn't see Jadeja getting injured on a cricket field. After the match, we came to know that he has an injury. That means the things that are happening outside or in the gym need to be addressed," said Sehwag on Cricbuzz.

“Skills are important. Once you are in the Indian team and playing a series, gym is not as important as skills. If you have a two-month break, then fitness becomes important,” the former Indian opener opined.

Sehwag further asserted, “I learnt this from Sachin Tendulkar. Whenever he came into the team, I never saw him lifting more than 6-8kg weights. I asked him, 'what's the point of lifting such low weights?' He replied, 'this is my maintenance. I've to play a match, I'm only doing this to keep my rhythm intact, so that I don't lose my power'. You see the players these days, Virat Kohli and others posting videos of lifting 50-60-70 kg weights during a series, which actually increases the chances of injury,” he concluded.

As per reports, the BCCI selectors are set to announce India's T20 WC squad on Monday evening (September 12). It will be interesting to see who all make the cut and who will be the players to miss out due to injury issues. Ahead of the upcoming ICC event, India will host Australia and South Africa in white-ball series and look to avoid injury concerns before boarding the flight for Australia.