The rehabilitation centre at the Sri Ramachandra Medical College (SRMC) that is slated to take over from the National Cricket Academy, Bangalore, has already begun functioning.
Although it is yet to receive the official nod from the Indian Board — the state-of-the-art facility has been cleared informally by the BCCI — the centre is up and running.
The Board, according to reliable sources, has already thought it fit to send its top physio Nitin Patel to the SRMC. In fact, Patel has taken up permanent residence in Chennai.
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Although the SRMC authorities were tight-lipped, it has been learnt that India opener Murali Vijay had a session with Patel to get his fitness assessed at the centre here recently. Vijay is part of the Indian team that will figure in a five-Test series in England, beginning next month. Leg-spinner Amit Mishra visited Chennai to spend time with physio Patel.
More India cricketers are expected here in the next two weeks. The official announcement about the rehabilitation centre being moved here is likely within the next three weeks.
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Given the range of facilities here, there is a belief that the facility at the SRMC has the capabilities to double up as a High Performance centre for select cricketers. This is a call the BCCI might have to take at a later date. The biomechanics wing here is expected to — within a month — receive ICC’s approval for being the first centre in Asia for correcting illegal bowling actions.
The ICC team that inspected the centre recently, it is believed, was pleased with the quality of the sensors and the efficiency of the three-dimensional cameras.
Before giving it the official status the ICC — keen on curbing the menace of chucking — wants to train the personnel here to use the equipment according to its guidelines; this includes the positioning of the sensors on the cricketers’ body and the right method of assessing the data fed into the computers.
This process is already being carried out through the sharing of videos on the net.