Sports Medicine and Indian Cricket: Exploring the Past, understanding the Present and accommodating a Future of Scientific Conception

Abstract

Background: 'What do they know of cricket who only cricket know?'-CLR James. Cricket is one of the oldest major international team sport, however, the integration of sports medicine research into the cricketing set-up has been relatively new.Cricketing nations, such as Australia, England and South Africa, have been at the forefront and have shown an increased interest to understand this game from a scientific point of view. On the contrary, in a country where cricket is like a religion it is sad to say that the lack of scientific rigor still echoes in the Indian dressing room. Nevertheless, a fresh approach brought in by foreign medical practitioners has planted the seed in local brains to bring the concept of sports medicine into the Indian cricketing fraternity.