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Test in an unobtrusive way: Azhar

Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI: Former cricket captain Mohammed Azharuddin batted for his erstwhile teammates, as he sided with them regarding the WADA whereabouts clause, in the concluding session of the International Congress on Sports Medicine at the SCOPE auditorium here on Sunday.

A staunch believer and practitioner of supreme physical fitness as the key to sporting success, Azharuddin said that he was all for anti-doping to cleanse sports, but said that the authorities should stick to the course of testing during the event, before it, and afterwards.

“I tend to go with the players. I am slightly against the whereabouts clause. Whenever you have doubt on someone, you can always call him and do the test. For cricketers to tell their whereabouts, it is very difficult,” said Azharuddin, as he viewed the situation in the Indian context.

Quite understandably, his attention was brought to the current plight of Indian team losing matches to Australia, and Azharuddin once again backed the Indian team.

Not consistent

“We are a very good side. In the last few months we have not played that great. The problem is that we are not consistent. We have had very close games, and we need to close out those matches,” said Azhar, as he hinted that the problem was not that big as it was being made out to be.

Talking about training and injury prevention, Azahruddin said it was important for the players to listen to their trainers and follow the instructions carefully.

“Many are not following what they are told by the trainers, and that is why they are getting injured,” he remarked.

Looking back at his own career, Azharuddin recalled that he was training and competing with the youngsters when he was past 30, and highlighted that sports medicine played a big role in getting the players recover from injuries quickly.

Train every day

“When you are a sportsman, you train every day. Even during periods when you are not having matches, you train enough so that when you get to the camps, you are already 90 per cent fit” he said.

Talking about talent spotting, Hemanshu Chaturvedi, argued that it was talent that was scouting for support rather than institutions scouting for talent.

The chairman of the congress, Dr. P.S.M. Chandran, hoped that Indian sports would utilise the expertise of sports medicine to move forward.

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