Team India Physio Reveals How Regional Backgrounds Differentiate National Cricketers

Being a physiotherapist for an international sports team is hardly an easy job. For Team India's Patrick Farhart, the task is even tougher. Reason? The Men in Blue come from all parts of the country and their different backgrounds and body types have different needs and requirements.

Speaking to BCCI.tv, Farhart - the former physio for the Kings XI Punjab - said he enjoyed the tour to Sri Lanka, which was his first assignment with the national team.

"The coaching staff, the support staff and the players are all wonderful to work with. It was also great to see the team win an overseas Test series after quite a while," he said, adding that it was quite busy as well.

Asked about what challenges he faced and the ones that lie ahead, the Aussie highlighted the different backgrounds of the Indian cricketers.

"It is interesting because even within the Indian team there are differences between the South Indian and North Indian boys," said Farhart.

"Genetically and structurally they are very different. For instance, the Punjabi boys are strongly built but most of them have very flat feet. Indian players tend to have different ranges of hip, shoulder and trunk motion in comparison to players in England and Australia. "

Having a rich experience of over eight years in the Indian Premier League, Farhart however feels he has seen most Indian players improving their fitness levels to a great extent.

"I think a lot of the Indian players have seen the amount of work that some of the young overseas players put into their fitness and learned from that," said Farhart, who has also been the physio to rugby teams, apart from Big Bash side Sydney Sixers. "What impressed me about the Indian boys on the Sri Lankan tour was their commitment towards training and fitness."

While commitment to fitness is expected of international sportspersons,  Team India did suffer several injury blows in Farhart's first assignment with the side. Shikhar Dhawan, Wriddhiman Saha and Murali Vijay were the big casualties but the physiotherapist says he has not taken it personally.

"Managing this aspect is a difficult thing. It is probably the hardest part of my job. The first thing to do is not take it personally," said Farhart. "You weigh up all the pros and cons and try to manage these situations in the best way possible without causing any long-term damage."