Jasprit Bumrah’s statement after the Dubai debacle in a cricket match recently against New Zealand seems to have unintentionally introduced OH (Occupational Health) in Indian sports.
OH is a medical specialty that deals with preventing illness (especially work-related) and improving performance, in addition to many other functions.
Sports can be viewed as a kind of work, as it is an activity done for a living or to achieve something.
Performance in general can dip during pandemic because of being in a ‘bio bubble’; especially for sportspersons playing a series of games out of their home country.
Performance dips in sports because it is a high-performance competitive activity and being away from home and family, being in a bio bubble, and doing the same act of playing repetitively contributes to fatigue.
Fatigue is a feeling of being tired or sleepy that sets in because of insufficient sleep, prolonged mental or physical work, extended periods of stress or anxiety, doing same work again and again, or being away from home and family.
Breaks, family time and being away from repetitive activity lessens the fatigue on the person to a large extent whatever be the other reasons involved; in fact, it is the first line of defense against fatigue.
I fully support Jasprit Bumrah, the Indian cricket teams’ pace bowler, on his recent statement (31st October 2021) after India lost to New Zealand in ICC Men’s T20 World Cup in Dubai. Imagine, prior to that the Indian players had just concluded and played fiercely in the famous IPL tournament.
What BCCI (Board of Control for Cricket in India) should do now is to appoint an Occupational Health (OH) physician with experience especially in fatigue management to improve performance, just as Physio and Psychologist are appointed to support the players in other areas.
Bumrah said “Absolutely you need a break sometimes. You miss your family. You have been on the road for six months. So all of that sometimes play on the back of your mind but when you are on the field, you don’t think about all of those things. You don’t control a lot of things. All the scheduling goes on or what, what tournament is played when. So obviously staying in a bubble and staying away from your family for such a long period of time does play a role on players’ minds as well,” in the virtual post-match press conference on Sunday, 31st October 2021.
Bumrah further added, “But BCCI has also tried their best to make us feel comfortable. This is the time in which we are living right now. It’s a difficult time. There is a pandemic going on. We try to adapt but sometimes bubble fatigue, mental fatigue also creeps in and you are doing the same thing again and again. It is what it is and you can’t control a lot of it here.”
What BCCI (Board of Control for Cricket in India) should do now is to appoint an Occupational Health (OH) physician with experience especially in fatigue management to improve performance, just as Physio and Psychologist are appointed to support the players in other areas.
Bumrah’s statement seems to have introduced the concepts of OH in sports in India. It is now left to the sports associations to take this forward to prevent illnesses (including fatigue) and improve performance among players.
BCCI, on their part must also consider scheduling tournaments with gaps and allow time for players to come home and meet up with their families.
After all, there is nothing like homecoming. It rejuvenates!
There are other areas too where the OH physician can contribute to improve performance among sportspersons. For example, Dr David Flower, an OH physician was a member of the British Olympic Association’s Acclimatization Working Party, advising the British Olympic team on the management of jetlag in preparation for the Sydney Olympics in 2000.
That is the type of commitment various sports’ associations in India including the BCCI will have to demonstrate to get the best out of the sportspersons, and consider appointing OH physicians for this specific role!
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Dr Ajay Sati is an Occupational Health physician who prefers to describe himself as an Occupationist, to denote, ‘an expert in diseases and other concerns of occupations’. Dr Sati has managed health and wellness programs in industries he worked, like the atomic energy, and energy (oil & gas) in India and overseas. He was involved in many greenfield and brownfield projects providing inputs from health point of view. Known for SOPs and protocols, he is currently involved with an energy MNC in designing protocols to support employees during the covid pandemic, and protocols to safely reopen offices and plants.
