Yoga for cricket ...and for cricket reporting too

By K.R. Nayar

Being a scribe from the UAE where readers are from India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Afghanistan, I had to ensure that matches played by these countries were reported during the World Cup and Champions Trophy tournaments. In addition to the spirit and love for cricket, it was the strength gained through yoga that helped me race from one venue to another without a break. 

Doing regular yoga has helped me develop stamina

I have been practicing yoga for a few years now, and hence, like many of those who patronize yoga, the International Yoga Day is very special for me. Practicing yoga has helped me immensely, both mentally and physically. It was while reporting international cricket matches that I realized the benefits of these yoga exercises. To deliver your best you need to be physically fit in addition to being mentally alert. Many believe that the emphasis of fitness should be mainly on sportsmen, and may wonder why sports journalists too need to be fit. 

Most journalists, who report tournaments like the ICC World Cup or Champions Trophy, chase only their own country’s team. But me being a scribe from the UAE, I always had a tougher job on hand. The readership in the UAE is made up of India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Afghanistan, and hence I had to make sure that I report almost all matches these countries played. So, for me, international tournaments were a race from one venue to another without a break. 

Many of my journalist friends have expressed surprise at how I would make it from one venue to another, and frankly, by the end of the tournament I too would wonder how I did it? The recent 2019 World Cup in England is an example. Travelling from one venue to another would take me on an average three-four hours by train one way, and this was my schedule on a daily basis. But the spirit and love for the game pushed me to take it on. And, I believe, what gave me the stamina to do it was Yoga. 

During the 2015 World Cup in Australia, the Hobart stadium did not have a lift to the press box on the fourth floor. Walking up the stairs and down multiple times during the day did not seem difficult for me, and thus I was able to report Kumar Sangakkara’s fourth consecutive century through that fantastic view from the top. Apart from my stamina that I had developed due to regular practice of yoga, Sangakkara’s historic knock too wiped away the strain of climbing the steps repeatedly. 

I always wished I had known about Yoga during my playing days. I was a fast bowler and never knew the importance of warming up before a game during my school days. As soon as the captain handed over the ball to me, I would just run up and bowl. It was only after I read Dennis Lillee’s book ‘The Art of Fast bowling’ that I realized the importance of loosening up before bowling if one had to give his best. 

In the earlier years, international cricketers too rarely bothered about fitness. It is amazing how some of them scored runs with hardly any physical training.  In the Indian team of the seventies, Bishen Singh Bedi was the fittest, and it was mainly due to yoga. As a spinner, the game did not demand the kind of fitness he possessed, but his fitness made him a delight to watch in action. No wonder people hailed him as ‘poetry in motion’. 

When Bedi became a coach after his playing days, he expected the same kind of fitness from his students. Virat Kohli, during a function in 2017 in New Delhi, once revealed how, as a youngster, he was scared of Bedi who was the coach of the Delhi team.  “We did not understand the importance of fitness and wanted to run away from him during the Under-17 and Under-19 cricketing days. Today, many people, including myself, who went through that regime are reaping the benefits.” In fact many cricketers have included yoga as part of their fitness routine. Before the start of a match, one can see many players performing various yoga poses to loosen up their body. 

Today’s competitive world demands physical fitness and mentally alertness to be successful.  So, whether you are a sportsman or not, why not practice it? It will surely work to your benefit not only for now but in the long run too.