Irfan Pathan: Injury management important after COVID-19 break

The Indian team management will have to be “extremely careful” with bowlers after they return to training, says Pathan.

Irfan Pathan...“We will have to be extremely careful about injury management as our boys have been out of action for a while.”

Former India fast bowler Irfan Pathan believes the Indian team management will have to be “extremely careful” with bowlers after they return from the coronavirus-forced hiatus, as they are likely to suffer injuries.

Players in India haven’t been able to practise since March 25 due to the countrywide lockdown imposed to contain the outbreak of the novel coronavirus. Fast bowler Shardul Thakur who became the first Indian team member to resume training after he bowled in the nets in Boisar in Palghar district last month.

Pathan, a former left-arm seamer, felt that any team, including an IPL one, would have to be careful with the bowlers as bowlers were more likely to sustain injuries after having been out of action for more than two months. “Injury management is the most important thing. We will have to focus on all the bowlers,” Pathan, who has played 29 Tests and 120 ODIs for India, said on

Cricket Connected , a show by

Star Sports .

The ICC also recently came up with specific guidelines for bowlers, suggesting that teams would need to exercise caution over bowlers’ workloads to avoid a serious injury like stress fracture of the spine as players get ready to resume training.

“In a squad of 15, every team has four to six bowlers. Be it an IPL team, Indian team or any international or domestic team, we will have to be extremely careful about injury management as our boys have been out of action for a while,” he said.