Desperate India to depend on DEXA scans

Former India strength and conditioning coach Ramji Srinivasan had made the case for using Dexa scans to assess the fitness of athletes over a decade ago.

The Board of Control for Cricket in India dismissed his suggestions then, likely because they were still basking in the afterglow of the triumphs at the 2011 World Cup and the 2013 Champions Trophy.

But with no ICC silverware to speak of since, BCCI have been hard-pressed to adopt Dexa scans and bring back the Yo-Yo Test.

This ‘positive’ decision at the review meeting on Sunday comes in the wake of a spate of injuries which have hampered the side over the last few years.

Jasprit Bumrah, Ravindra Jadeja, Kuldeep Sen, Deepak Chahar and Washington Sundar among others could have benefited from early detection of potential injuries. Moreover, their rehabilitation processes could have been bespoke to ensure earlier returns.

To avoid such concerns in the future, the BCCI is set to assess 20 players, who have been shortlisted for the upcoming 50-over World Cup, using Dexa scans. Subsequently, they will be put through the Yo-Yo Test.

“There is no real one-size-fits-all training routine in sport,” says Ramji, who was part of the last two ICC titles India won. “Everything has to be bespoke in order to avoid injuries.”

The Dexa (dual x-ray absorptiometry) scan allows experts to distill data on lean muscle mass, water content, body fat percentage, bone density and other parameters essential to assessing athletes’ base level.

This data will then be run through the sieve by trainers before thorough training protocols are put in place.

“The best thing about Dexa is that it reveals everything about a player’s body composition,” says a former India trainer. “It has been heavily used the world over for several other sports. Even some cricketing nations use it for their national teams.”

But for efficacy, he says, the data needs to go through the right hands for the right inferences.

Speaking of failed inferences, the management made the Yo-Yo Test optional, offering the 2 km run (under 8 minutes) as an alternative.

The Yo-Yo Test, which was pushed for by Virat Kohli and Ravi Shastri in 2019, was a successful test in that the injury statistics were not as jarring as they are now, and the data was useful.

Surely, the lack of basic training measures during Covid-19 played a part in the axing of the Yo-Yo Test, but the Indian standard - set at a nominal 16.5 - isn’t nearly taxing.

And yet, several players failed, and the team even now possesses those who would seemingly struggle with these basic fitness requirements. “See, in some cases, we gave them some levy because of injuries and sometimes because of their stature, but frankly, I feel like we shouldn’t have,” says the former trainer.

“Had we set the ground rules properly, I don’t think we would be facing this issue now. That said, with Dexa, there is no hiding any information. It’ll be there for everyone to see.”

Dexa scans also reduce, possibly even eradicate, instances of cricketers hiding injuries from trainers. But that won’t necessarily stop trainers from withholding information. This is perhaps why the BCCI has decided to have NCA (National Cricket Academy) and the Indian Premier League work in tandem.

It was a request that didn’t sit well with the franchises in the past for it would mean NCA’s direct involvement with every player. This time around, the franchises agreed because only a select list of players will be targeted.

“Franchisees were afraid of leaks in information,” revealed Ramji. “It’s understandable, but this is a good move.”

Ramji, though, reckoned the ideal way to go about fitness assessments would be to introduce the Yo-Yo Test or something as rudimentary, if not expensive Dexa scans, at the India A and first-class. “This way, we have fit players ready to jump into the side, and the baseline is set high.”