New Delhi, Feb. 25: In an age when it is fashionable to say 30 is the new 40, Sachin Tendulkar’s double century yesterday in Gwalior has reminded the world — and some sports medicine experts — that “we do not yet know the limits of human performance”.
The stamina and bat swings, which helped Tendulkar defy the perceptions associated with a person two months short of 37, spring from high endurance levels and superior neuromuscular co-ordination he has maintained at his age, sports medicine experts said today.
Sports doctors said that while Tendulkar’s feat of scoring the first double century in one-day international cricket matches wasn’t surprising, it was commendable and possible only through rigorous training, exercise and experience.
“There’s nothing surprising about great sports performance at this age,” said Ashok Ahuja, consultant to the Asian Cricket Council and former head of the department of sports medicine at the National Institute of Sports, Patiala. “Both endurance as well as strength are trainable and flexible and — we do not yet know the limits of human performance,” Ahuja told The Telegraph. The batsman’s task of watching a bowler run in and pitch the ball, following its movement as it hurtles towards the wicket, and selecting an appropriate shot require fine co-ordination of the eyes, hands and muscles.
“All the main joints are crucial for the batsman — the shoulders, elbows, the lower back, wrist, knees and ankles — he’ll need all for different tasks,” said Prateek Gupta, a sports medicine specialist at the Sir Ganga Ram Hospital, New Delhi.
“Each joint plays specific roles — for instance, the lower back facilitates twisting movements of the body that are important for swings of the bat,” Gupta said. “The wrists allow the player to fine-tune the angle of the shot.”
In the past, biomechanical problems have affected Tendulkar’s game.
Cricket analysts recall that in the Chennai Test against Pakistan in 1999, Tendulkar scored a near-match-winning century in the fourth innings. But he was caught out when he apparently could not stretch his body far enough to strike the ball because of a bad back.
From 2003, when his tennis-elbow problem flared up, Tendulkar gave up some of his trademark lofted shots, preferring more controlled batting.
Australian scientists had shown through an experimental method three years ago that skilled batsmen had superior capabilities to make use of pre-bounce ball flight information to anticipate its actual flight and guide successful bat-ball interception.
Researchers Sean Muller and Bruce Abernethy from the University of Queensland had examined the skills of high- and low-skilled batsmen to intercept balls, and published their findings in the Journal of Science and Medicine in Sports. The researchers had observed six highly skilled batsmen and six low-skilled players from the Australian Cricket Academy.
They found that world-class batsmen were uniquely capable of studying the motion of the bowling arm and hand to predict what type of delivery would be bowled before the actual release of the ball.
“Experience itself can contribute to building the concentration for neuromuscular co-ordination required for such anticipation of ball movements and the split-second planning of shots,” Ahuja said.
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