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Navigating the pandemic - a look

at India's Strength & Conditioning
journey
Akash Sarkar

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'Push the players, make them uncomfortable, them to the next level' - Ravi Shastri's message for Nick Webb. ©BCCI

When Nick Webb joined India's squad in Visakhapatnam in September 2019,

Ravi Shastri had a simple message for the new head strength and conditioning
coach: 'Push the players, make them uncomfortable and take them to the next
level'. Webb recently left the side satisfied he's been able to bring in the change
that Shastri wanted.

In a detailed conversation, the New Zealander talks about the challenges the
pandemic brought, managing fast bowlers, Hardik Pandya's injury and more.

You took over the role in September 2019. What were the initial
goals you had set?
You know, as a foreigner, I knew very well the great task that was before me. I
came with open ears, open eyes because as a foreigner going into a new
environment, everything is different. Different athletes, different structures
and different systems. The only goal I set was to ask good questions and get to
know the players and the staff really well. I needed to understand where the
players were coming from.

The main plan was to build a rapport and build trust. After that, I could start
drip-feeding how I wanted to see the players prepare. Ravi's message stuck
with me. There's a process to that and it doesn't happen overnight. It's a slow
gain with small milestones.

I wanted to try and open the guys' minds around when we can push and when
to pull back. If you're playing for the whole year, you all of a sudden want to
protect yourself. You want to prioritise recovery. We needed to try and find
new ways to get fitter, get faster, get stronger rather than just prioritising
recovery.

You succeeded Shankar Basu, who was responsible for changing

the culture of the team. What were your key takeaways from the
handover you had?

Soham Desai [Then Asst. S&C Coach, Team] and Anand Date [S&C Coach,
NCA] had written reports on every single player under the BCCI's watch.
There were details around injuries, type of training they'd done, personality
traits and observations that would be beneficial for me. I picked up the phone
and called Basu as well. It was the best thing I could have done, to hear from
the man who lead the team for the two years prior. I spoke to Ravi, Rahul
Dravid and the key stakeholders at the NCA and BCCI.

Basu did an excellent job. And he did 100 per cent change the culture. It was
about time India changed their culture because the one thing I found was the
Indian guys, in terms of skills, they are next level. But for the Indian players to
compete physically against the Australians, New Zealanders, the English, who
are very skilful but also one of the fittest... and not by testing standards, but in
terms of game demand standards.

With the Indian team, Basu set an excellent foundation. It was about time that
the culture changed. The game is getting played faster, harder, more longer
series are being played. You cannot let fitness be a determining factor of
failure. That was the message that I wanted to get across. We need to get fitter
as a group, not just because we want to pass a test but because there are actual
benefits.

The Southees, the Boults - coming from New Zealand I knew how they
operated. They are skilful but to compete against India, the English, the
Australians, they needed to be back up between Tests, they needed to recover
quickly. They understand the benefit of how they prepare for match demands.
It's about recovering between spells in Tests, recovering between days 1-5.
Then you've got three or four days between matches. That's the light switch
that those guys understood and the reasons why they needed to get fitter.

O f th i th t i d t t th fit
One of the exercises that you carried out was to compare the fitness
standards of the Indian team with countries like England, New
Zealand and Australia. What were the differences?

The NCA guys and I took a couple of months to come up with what we valued
from a physical monitoring point of view. I presented it to Kohli, Ravi and
other stakeholders around what it looks like. Change doesn't happen overnight
and it didn't happen quickly. They weren't numbers that we plucked out of
thin air. We had all this testing data from the previous 12 months. We also did
some testing when we entered Australia, which had some really valid new data
that we needed for the new standards. So we had actual data and we compared
it to what the standards were and where we wanted to see ourselves.

The trick with setting standards from a national point of view is that you don't
want them to be so far fetched, because in Indian cricket they set these as
selection criteria. In New Zealand cricket, and having seen how the English
and the Australians prepare their standards, it's not tagged to selection. It's
based on physical profiles, individual profiles, and what this current athlete's
profile is. It's about how can we get them better based on how they are
currently made up physiologically and physically. With Indians, you have to
set the standard, you have to meet it, and you're either in or you're out. That's
the process that needed to be taken because the price of entry into the Indian
cricket team needed to be higher.

We got all this data and came up with averages and small trends. We came up
with certain standards based on where they were and where we wanted to see
them in the next 12 months. And it wasn't so far away that if we took the test, a
lot of players would fail. Because then the selectors would go 'we've done all
these tests and now all of them are failing; we've got no players to select'. So
we had to find that balance.

As part of the due diligence process, I reached out to all the other nations, in
England, Australia, New Zealand - so we did a comparison of what those
standards were compared to the Indian standards.

I believe that if you put it into two categories - skills and fitness - India were
up there in terms of skills and right down in terms of fitness when we did that
comparison. India is still competing at the international stage so some people
may think why do we need to increase the level? My answer to that is if we can
lift the standards, these guys will run faster, they'll be more durable, they'll
recover quickly. So you can get more out of them, which will allow them to
express themselves faster, harder and more often.

Six months into your stint, the COVID-19 pandemic hit. What were
the challenges building up to the IPL and then the Australian tour?

There have been plenty of challenges. How the players handled it physically,
psychologically, it was pretty tough. We stay in great hotels but you are locked
away in four walls. It's great that you are bonding with your teammates but
you are away from home, you go to the stadium and come back, you have no
freedom. You are away from all the comforts and the Indian boys do it six
months at a time.
 We had all the guys on a programme but we had different players with
different circumstances. Some were on farms, and the others were in their
apartments and couldn't step out because the pandemic was raging. They had
no gym equipment, they were unable to run. Some guys were prepared (for
IPL 2020) and some guys were not prepared at all. They had to go into
quarantine once again so no running or on-field loading. We had to work with
the franchises on how the players exited the quarantine so that they were
ready to handle the congested schedule. We learnt a lot from that process.

Another challenge was going from IPL, with vastly different situations for each
player and vastly different preparations, to a very long tour of Australia. We
needed to make sure the players also had one eye on the Australian tour while
in IPL. We had to make sure they were physically capable of lasting the whole
tour.

'I feel he [Bumrah] can't continue to bowl in every format, every game the whole year. The poor guy will break' ©Getty

You spoke about learning about entering and exiting quarantines

...

We had milestone checkpoints set with the franchises, so the information not
only allowed the selectors to make decisions but gave us an idea on how to
manage them once we got into 14 days of quarantine in Australia. There were
all these challenges in terms of what the players had been doing, how they
were handling bubble life, and the travel into Australia may seem easy but it
was not. We had to make sure the players were able to handle international
cricket, its volume, its intensity, safely while in quarantine and in the bubble.
W h dt k th h lth h d d f l i
We had to make sure they were healthy enough and ready for a long series.

You're playing and then there's a period of seven to ten days where you can't
do anything and have to stay in a room. That affects the physical readiness of a
player. You might be getting some traction and you're feeling good physically,
you've played some amount of matches, but then that stops. The challenge was
to at least maintain physical stimulus so that they exit quarantine in
reasonably good shape. The days after quarantine or self-isolation were
absolutely crucial. We learnt from the Australian tour how to manage the
players in those situations.

It was so new to us going into the quarantine period, we had three hours to get
all our work done. We had to get skills, get fitness, gym everything in that
time. I'll put my hand up first to say that we did get things wrong.

We had to go back to what the science says and how do we manage these guys
from a physical point of view. Once you're in that situation, there are so many
other factors at play that you need to consider. You've got food that is not up to
what the guys would like. When you aren't getting the food that you're
enjoying, it just enhances all the challenges. But I think the biggest positive
point from that Australian series was how the guys adjusted and adapted to all
the challenges, not only the quarantines and self-isolations but the food, the
bubbles and the restrictions. We learnt from our mistakes and that set a
blueprint for us for the next 8-12 months.

Why did you introduce the 2k time trial?

I added the 2k time trial because you have different types of athletes and some
athletes weren't suited to the yo-yo. You've got not just your aerobic capacity,
but you've got your change of direction, turning ability as well. A lot of other
different factors play their part in determining the success of that test.
Whereas the 2k time trial is a standardised run around the field.

There are no other excuses. You've just got to run. It's highly reliable. I
introduced the two tests, the 2k test and I upgraded the yo-yo as well. The
price of entry into the Indian cricket team from a selection criteria point of
view continuously needs to be raised and there will be a ceiling at some point.
Once we know players are hitting a certain marker from the fitness
perspective, then we can really delve deeper into what are the areas that we
can influence to gain a competitive advantage.

There have been examples of players like Varun Chakravarthy and

Rahul Tewatia failing fitness tests and not getting selected. You had
to break the news to Tewatia. What was that like?

Coming from New Zealand, where those tests aren't tagged to selection, it's
more about individual growth. New Zealand athletes would do a series of tests
- yo-yo test, strength profiling, skin folds, and you get a full profile and
understand what this athlete looks like. Then there's a clear picture of which
physical quality you need to seek to improve or seek to hold from a strength
and conditioning perspective. The Indian guys, we're only touching on one
physical quality and it's tagged to selection.
I had never been in a position to have to say, 'Sorry, you failed this test, you
are yet to make your debut and I'm stopping that'. That cut a little deep for me.
The guy was distraught. You could see the pain and hurt in him. For me to
make that decision was tough. He had made a heap of improvement and
dropped it by a minute. I did say to him to keep seeking improvement, make
little milestones and achieve something small every single day to make sure
it's never in doubt. You need to know that you've put in the work and you're
going to clear it easy.

That was a tough decision but if I was to go, 'Yep, you're only five seconds off,
you can be selected', it would undermine the entire process. It would tell
everyone that the price of entry can be manipulated.

The 2k time trial, how did it help you in developing programmes

for the players?

When we first did the 2k time trial in Australia, we had a good build-up.
Testing is quite strategic as well and it's important who you partner everyone
with. If you partner Mayank with a less fitter athlete, he wouldn't be pushed as
hard. It's always good to run with someone else. The players ran in groups of
three or four.

So Mayank [Agarwal], Virat and Deepak Chahar were three that were running
together. Those guys are the fittest and you see it when they are running and
they are pushing each other. When you test, you have to go close to failure. To
get a reliable marker of where that athlete is, you need to go as hard as you
can, and grouping the guys in specific groups was key to that.

The players understand that you are either in or you are out but these tests
give you live data around how to manage them for the weeks after that because
we develop conditioning programmes and sessions based on those results. We
can determine how many metres per second they're running, and develop
sessions around the distances they should be covering. So those programmes
on distances that we come up with for those players are really specific based
on the results.

The tests, it's not just collecting data, and then putting it in file seven and then
forgetting about it. You use that data to better the programme, which is
important especially in an international series or long series with different
formats. You need to know how to create a certain stimulus and seek
adaptation. And getting live data from those tests is crucial for that process.

Technology plays a huge role in creating different player profiles

and programmes. Can you explain how the process works?

So from a profiling point of view, the guys get DEXA scans, which is body fat
composition, bone density among other things. Something I inherited was a
partnership with STATSports - a GPS technology organisation. We get the GPS
on most of the guys, not all, in training and in matches. We specifically look at
matches because we play so often. We know what kind of top-of-the-game
demands a certain player will cover on average. And we're also looking at
certain metrics for each individual, which also determines how we handle
 them after the match.

So for example, if we're in a Test series, say Jasprit (Bumrah) would cover over
40 kilometres a Test match. Huge volume but that doesn't tell you the entire
picture. What top speed did he get to? How often did he get to that top speed?
How many top speed exposures? Let's say, we have five days between Tests,
based on what his physical outputs were in the previous match, we decide
what we need to touch on to ensure he maintains his physical abilities,
recovers enough and we are also reducing the risk of injuries.

Let's say for argument's sake, Jasprit didn't get anywhere near his top speed.
By nature of his bowling speed run-up, he didn't cover much high-speed
running. He got there once and covered two metres in high-speed running. We
know we've got five days between matches, so day one will be recovery. Day
two will be strength work and on day three we would get some speed work in
before it would start tapering off on days 4-5. So that game data is used to
understand what physical qualities I need to target and then adapt that based
on how much time we've got between games.

'Hardik needs to spend some time re-calibrating his bowling action, and getting stronger.' ©Getty

Within the Indian setup, there are players who understand their
bodies really well and then there are young players who are
learning about their bodies. How does it work with different
players?

If you talk to someone like Ishant Sharma, who's played 100 Tests, by nature
of experience he knows his body very well. The bowlers tend to know their
b di t l ll b th th h th t t S I thi k th
bodies extremely well because they go through the most stress. So I think the
key part for us as S&C coaches and physical performance staff is, we try and
get them as much objective data as we can. We also pay that worth to the
human side. We get alongside them and we see them the most. So we take
them for recovery sessions, we're in the gym with them, we take them for
running and we're giving them protein shakes. We have to have highly tuned
observation skills, and a really good understanding of how these guys are
responding to stresses, not just within games, but overall international cricket
stress.

These guys have got a lot going on outside the cricket as well. It's important to
start having conversations. 'Are you okay? How are you managing this? You
bowled 20 overs yesterday, how have you pulled up?' So it's hearing the
objective data with the subjective.

Virat Kohli is outstanding. He knows exactly what he needs to feel right and
what's not okay. Just chatting to him, understanding how he's feeling, what
does he feel that needs to improve, or the type of training that we're doing, is
he seeing any form of benefit out on the park? So the experienced guys will
tend to have more conversations around that.

The younger guys, they're less experienced in understanding how to manage

their bodies under continual stress. It's about educating them about how to
handle their bodies, making them understand that sometimes they are going
to be tired and that's okay. It's about how we help them manage through that
process. And provide them with tools that they need to be able to understand
what they need to do. Sometimes a young player is coming into international
cricket, it's pretty tough. You've got the pressure of the nation, you've got
expectations and suddenly they are tired because they are training a bit
harder, or a little bit longer, then it's about educating and making them
understand what's good for their bodies.

Any examples you can think of ...

One framework for recovery that works for Virat probably won't work for Siraj.
And there were times where we dictated what they need to do. We can only
control to a certain extent what facilities we have available to us, change rooms
and hotels, especially in the pandemic. We've faced a lot of challenges around
facilities, and we've just had to adapt to the type of recovery facilities we have
available to us. So in those instances, if we can only control certain things, for
example, ice baths, or hot-cold contrast baths, if we had them available, we
will dictate which players need to do what.

If we know players respond better to pool sessions than ice baths, and they feel
that it's better for them, then we will individually tailor the recovery plans
according to their preferences as well, also knowing the science behind it. I
feel that if players believe something works, there will be the mind-body
connection, that belief that it will work, which is just as important.

The programme for each pacer is significantly different. Could you

shed light on how Bumrah prepares differently from Ishant?

Ishant does something very different compared to Jasprit based on what he

Ishant does something very different compared to Jasprit based on what he
feels has worked. Those guys are very experienced. Jasprit knows that he
needs to get a certain type of strength session prior to every game at least
once, while Ishant has everything tailored to his bowling rhythm - how he's
felt in his run-up and how his strength supported the load that he had to
produce and absorb at the crease. So his glutes and the lower body strength,
we had to touch on that at least once prior to every game.

It's not rocket science. It's all about understanding what works for each
individual. Siraj, for example, is not the strongest, but jeez he can bowl. It's
about us understanding what he is capable of, how can we dose him from a
strength and conditioning point of view without making him overly sore. We
almost dictated what his programme looked like because he was in his infancy
around S&C training, and how his body responded and adapted.

Talking about Bumrah, he suffered a minor stress fracture in 2019.

There are always concerns that it can happen again. How did he
evolve from an S&C perspective post the injury?

It's a pretty big injury for a fast bowler. And like any injury, when you do
something once, you're more at risk of doing it again. Coming out of it,
Bumrah and the medical staff were so much smarter around the cause of the
injury because, inevitably, stress fracture is from bowling and getting your
body into positions that is inefficient. But we know Bumrah's action is very
unique. We also know his body has adapted to that. It's about understanding
what are the contributing factors for Bumrah. Like any all-format bowler, the
risk that Jasprit has, and will continue to have, will be how he manages his
bowling exposures. I feel he can't continue to bowl in every format, every game
the whole year. The poor guy will break.

We started it this year - bowling in two Tests and then having the third off, or
something like that. Having a formula like that, knowing that he has a chronic
load. It's the average amount of balls you bowl in a four-week period. If we can
manage that, and give him a match off, it's going to not only allow him to
psychologically recover, it's going to allow his bones to recover and adapt as
well.

Managing someone like Bumrah is key. It'll be about what he needs from a
strength and conditioning point of view and what he needs from a physical
programming point of view to support his action and the bowling load at key
periods. Because you don't want to be taking him away from a crucial Test, say
in England, when you are 2-1 up and need to finish the series. You don't want
to do that to the coaches. It's about communicating that this is his chronic
load, so we can give him rest at this game, or an x-game, and allow him to
recover.

Talking about managing injuries, Hardik suffered a major back

injury in 2018. What were your challenges with him?

It's been an excellent and very brave call from Hardik to come out and say,
'Don't select me'. I find there are categories you can put the athletes into. They
are either very sensitive or they are very robust. At the moment, Hardik is very
iti t t b h ' b i j d hi b k i l H dik
sensitive to stress because he's been injured on his back previously. Hardik
needs to spend some time re-calibrating his bowling action, and getting
stronger, to be able to support the load of continual bowling.

When you think about fast bowling, it is probably the most unnatural thing a
body could go through. It's not meant to do it but it can. For Hardik to bowl
four overs, or ten, there are a lot of contributing factors that need to come into
play. I don't think he's had a decent break after the pandemic, going from
national duties to other assignments. He doesn't play Test cricket but he's only
got about four weeks and he's playing again.

There are a lot of factors that need to be addressed. His action, working on his
mobility through his thoracic spine and it's about making sure he's Hardik 2.0.
If we can get him bowling and batting symptom-free, he is going to be a force
to be reckoned with. He's got a phenomenal work ethic and his mindset
around training is incredible. He wants to be the best and he knows that once
his body can handle it, he's going to be a world-beater.

Talking about batters, is there someone who really improved

because of a programme you had put him on?

Explosive power is a physical quality that every cricketer should have. Every
cricketer wants to be able to hit the ball out of the park every single time. Or if
you mishit a ball, if you work on your explosive power, then you're going to
mishit it harder, and it's not going to go to the fielder in the 30-yard circle, it's
going to go over and you're safe. So that's the sort of outcome that you're also
seeking.

One of the players I can think of is Mayank. When I first started, he got all
those double hundreds, timed the ball beautifully. And his programme was
highly strength and explosive power-based but we had to be really strategic
around how we dosed him and how physical his programme was. His focal
goal was to hit the ball harder and run faster.

I truly believe the process that I've gone through with Mayank and how we
strategically moved from focusing on max strength to explosive power, kind of
interchanging his focus based on the format that he was playing. You can see
him now performing extremely well in IPL. He'll be the first one to say he's
much more explosive and powerful now.

We don't do S&C programmes just for the sake of it, we want to be able to
transfer the work in the gym onto the park. And he is one guy that I feel has
really benefited from the programmes that we've implemented. He's got a
good blueprint on how he manages training programmes now.

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