This lot need to hit the gym

[Ranjha]

Cricket is one sport where you don't have to be an athlete or in good shape to succeed.

[Serani]

Cricket is one sport where you don't have to be an athlete or in good shape to succeed.

That attitude explains why India have never produced a fast bowler.

[Guest Evil Mod Consortium]

We need Ian Pont as coach. They will have Olympian training regimes, learn to run around a track with a tire behind them and become the top sprinters in the country. Maybe we can have a whole team of Atul Sharmas. :--D

[maheshw]

Sachin is 37 years old. He is by far, much fitter than the current youngsters on the team. Look at Raina. The guy looks like a fat munchkin.

[Manny_Pacquiao]

Sachin is 37 years old. He is by far' date=' much fitter than the current youngsters on the team. Look at Raina. The guy looks like a fat munchkin.[/quote'] Raina is an excellent fielder and very quick between the wickets

[maheshw]

Yes he is an excellent fielder and quick runner if you're only comparing him to guys from India. Look at Australia and New Zealand. All their players field well and are very athletic on the field. If Raina were to improve his physical fitness, perhaps he will be an even better fielder and much faster between the wickets. What I'm saying is, in order for India to come anywhere near the likes of Oz, they will have to be in much better physical condition.

[BERGKAMP]

Cricket is one sport where you don't have to be an athlete or in good shape to succeed.

Maybe in tests this is slightly true but for ODIs and T20s I disagree strongly. A full team in peak physical condition will save you between 10-30 runs in the field and would probably also run more singles and twos than a team like ours. If you think that most of these games are won and lost by differences of 20-40 runs, I think it is a flaw we could fix quite easily with some hard work off the field. Look at Gambhirs running yesterday, it was a disgrace, and this lazy mentality would disappear if they were all getting their asses kicked by training hard regularly.

[mastana]

Don't be too harsh on Yuvi. He is pregnant. He was one of the best fielders in the indian team few years ago. :((

[Deleted_User_1]

Yuvi is fat and lazy, Zaheer looks like a drunk, Bhajji drinks like fish (which Yuvi and Zak do too), Rohit and Raina look like porcupines, Jaddu is malnourished, and the story goes on and on. This team is doomed. I do not see any future. India sucks!!! :wall:

[Deleted_User_1]

Don't be too harsh on Yuvi. He is pregnant. He was one of the best fielders in the indian team few years ago. :((

He looks like a pathetic shadow of his yester years. I sincerely hope he gets dropped and is forced to work his way back in to the team.

[Precambrian]

Raina is an excellent fielder and very quick between the wickets

I really don't know how this myth is sustaining itself, but Raina is a much slower runner between the wickets as compared to Dhoni, Kartik, Sachin, and even himself of 05. What's worse is he is even more a worse judge of a run and often be seen either running himself or his partner out. The guy makes a lot of his runs through slogs for sixes and boundaries. Which is okay. Yuvraj is a real disgrace to Indian cricket. He's gone so off shape and lazy that he is a liability on the field now. He is never seen fielding in the key areas these days, struggles to run behind bowls, never dives, and even his throws are hardly spot on these days. That's unpardonable when you're one of the most senior players in the side and actually have youngsters who look upto you for inspiration, like Rohit Sharma, who has taken adulation to a different level by even impersonating Yuvraj's gait, lazy air, and worse of late his fitness regime. Sharma is still a very good fielder, but if he continues to gain weigt like this, then he'll become just another Yuvraj. You don't need to build six packs to be successful at the top level. What more inspiration than God in this regard! Even he had his share of issues in the late 90s when he put on a bit of weight. He still played his shots but in a year or so became injured. He went on a strict fitness regime afterwards and emerged in much better shape which he has kept to date.

[Ultimate_Game]

A lot of the players are overweight (Yuvraj, Rohit, Zaheer, Raina) and a lot are severley underweight (Gambhir, Harbhajan, Nehra etc) These guys are meant to be pro athletes, have they even ever heard of a gym? It is embarassing to look at them when you compare their physiques to some other teams. Most English, Aussies, SA, WI, even Lankans have big biceps, big chests and just generally look big and strong, whereas we just look weak and pathetic or fat and slow. Most of our guys are relatively young as well yet if you didnt know them you would never guess they were professional sportsmen. I would say 90% of Indian actors are in better physical condition than our cricketers. I think its a disgrace, someone needs to get them into shape and not pick them until they get fully fit.

Do you remember SL's team of 1996? That team consisted of the likes of Ranatunga, Aravinda, Gurusinha on heavy end of the scale and had Upul Chandana, Kaluwitharna & Dharamsena on the other. They surely didn't have any problems winning.

[Manny_Pacquiao]

re: yuvraj. He just needs surgery on that knee. everything else - good fielding, improved fitness, form, etc. will follow. but the question is if he wants to do it at the expense of missing several games in the process...doesnt look like it

I really don't know how this myth is sustaining itself, but Raina is a much slower runner between the wickets as compared to Dhoni, Kartik, Sachin, and even himself of 05. What's worse is he is even more a worse judge of a run and often be seen either running himself or his partner out. The guy makes a lot of his runs through slogs for sixes and boundaries. Which is okay.

It's sustaining itself because it's true. He is as quick a runner as anyone else in the Indian team. the rest of this post is completely irrelevant. what is with all this wrist slitting

[panesarv]

Camera adds 10 pounds to your weight

[TheWall]

Lets hire Akhtar as our fitness trainer..:winky:

and get STDs :hitler::hitler:

[achilles]

you think Steyn' date='Tait,Lee and co can't run 5.6 K in under 24???..:haha:...fitness isn't all about being "Shoaib" you know...[/quote'] :fail: I was being sarcastic :hehe:

That attitude explains why India have never produced a fast bowler.

Yes. It's like the attitude the British have towards spin, although it is changing rapidly with the return of Graeme Swann. Similarly, India is slowly opening up to the idea of pace. But the typical "everything is fine" attitude doesn't help.

[Temujin Khaghan]

i dont necessarily want our cricketers to have a well chiselled physique. but definitely expect these things 1) not getting tired after hitting a 100 in india. (i saw gambhir panting hard after 10 overs in 20/10) - great stamina 2) able to run hard on the field and stop the ball on most occasions like the aussie and saffer players. be very athletic on the field - amazing speed and flexibility 3) able to use some muscle power during batting especially when u are not a gifted timer. i think when sportsmen set out to make their bodies into amazing tools to be used on the match days, they will automatically get a good shape and physique. it wont necessarily be very chiselled like a bollywood actor's. There is no need to after 6 pack... if our cricketers have a strong and flexible abdomen then its more than enuf. if u want to show a six-pack, u also need to concentrate on ur diet... its only the look. a lot of people without six pack have stronger abs than people with six pack. the six pack doesnt show becoz they dont concentrate on their diet. i think most of the bollywood actors (there are some rarely like akshay kumar who are more in into sports and strength training than bodybuilding) are not as strong as they look. i am sure someone like symonds/collingwood/warner can beat up our bollywood actors in any sport or game... including streetfighting.

[IKnowU]

The reason players from Oz, England, NZ, SA are fit and strong is because they have been doing it since their junior days. You dont just suddenly turn up to the gym and start lifting away. From my experience here in Oz junior cricket, Fitness and Fielding are more important then batting and bowling. We would spend over half our time in fielding and fitness and much less of batting and bowling. Through this it will help you in your batting and bowling. The mentality needs to change but the progress is slow. This goes towards any sport, fitness first then comes the actual specifics of the game.

[BERGKAMP]

Do you remember SL's team of 1996? That team consisted of the likes of Ranatunga' date=' Aravinda, Gurusinha on heavy end of the scale and had Upul Chandana, Kaluwitharna & Dharamsena on the other. They surely didn't have any problems winning.[/quote'] erm if im not mistaken this is now 2010, times have changed, we either move with them or get left behind. Im not necessarily talking about having six packs, chiselled bodies etc. They need to improve their stamina and endurance, and reduce body fat levels. This is not asking too much of pro sports people but I do get the feeling they are a bunch of lazy ********, who just like to eat, drink, party, and play cricket and nothing else.

[Gunner_Mania]

Agree with a lot of points above, but it is also true that we generally don't have a culture of keeping ourseleves fit - sports person or otherwise. This is different in Eng, OZ, NZ etc where keeping fit is just a part of routine life irrespective of whether you are a sports person or not.