Doctors blame "fatigue" for India's poor show in England

As the debate over excessive cricket taking its toll on the Indian team's fortunes in England rages on, experts from the medical field believe that fatigue may be one of the reasons behind the visitors' poor run in the tournament so far.

"Chronic fatigue does have a bearing on the performance of a sports person," said senior consultant orthopaedic surgeon at Apollo hospital, Raju Vaishya.

He said that extended exertion can lead to a damaging effect on one's muscles which in turn can also have an affect on your joints.

Vaishya, who has been in the field of sports medicine since 1987 also said that there is a likelihood that one injury may lead to the other.

Emphasising upon the Indian pace spearhead Zaheer Khan, who managed to bowl just 13 overs during the team's first Test against England at the Lord's before being forced out of action with a hamstring injury, the doctor said, "There is a possibility that one injury might have added to the cause of the other."

Zaheer subsequently went under knife for an ailing anchor besides having an aching shoulder.

Vaishya attributed the growing number of injuries to the players to "increased participation" and to the poor injury management.

"Generally, sports persons hide their injuries thinking that it might have an ill-effect on their career and even if they do disclose their injuries they do not receive proper advise," the doctor said.

"Players are guided by the physiotherapists, who basically don't have the same amount of expertise as a sports medic has," he added while emphasising on the need for a good sports medicine practitioner to be a part of the team.