'Old Copy Paste Diagnosis Needs To Stop In India': Physio Dr Saif Hasan Naqvi Makes Big Statement On Recurring Cricket Injuries

Dr Saif made a distinction between theory and practical when declaring a player with injury concerns fit for a match.

Dr Saif Hasan Naqvi was India Legends Team Physio in the Road Safety World Series Cricket tournament.

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Expressing his concern with the way cricket injuries are being diagnosed in India, physiotherapist Dr Saif Hasan Naqvi, in an exclusive interview to ABP Live, said that the existing, textbook methods of diagnosis needs to stop. He idenitified wrong diagnosis as one of the major reasons behind several cricketers experiencing recurring injuries.

Jasprit Bumrah's case is the biggest example of how one of India's premier cricketers is forced on the sidelines due to injury concerns even when he has been deemed fit twice in between, once when he ended up aggravating his injury and the other time when his name was pulled out of the squad last minute.

Dr Saif made a distinction between theory and practical when declaring a player with injury concerns fit for a match.

"Trainers and therapists should keep in mind that when an athlete is playing a pratice match, he only plays at about 70 per cent intensity. In real match sceneario, they tend to push themselves which is why an athlete who is considered match fit in a practice game can aggravate his injury if the therapist has not taken that into consideration while declaring him match fit," the phyisotherapist who was associated with the India Legends side in the Road Safety World Series said.

"Old copy paste diagnosis needs to stop and there is a need to device new tests and go beyond textbooks or classic diagnosis methods mentioned in books. I will cite an example of Yuvraj Singh who was repeatedly complaining of a hamstring problem post his comeback to cricket after his recovery from cancer but none of the MRI scans or X-rays spotted anything. It was only when we went beyond the books and found out there was stitch in his diaphragm during his cancer treatment that caused him trouble while breathing and caused cramps on his hamstring," Dr Saif, who has served as the team physio for Delhi Daredevils (now Delhi Capitals), now defunct Gujarat Lions, and Sunrisers Hyderabad, added.