It is an open secret that former India captain Sunil Gavaskar is quite against the bowlers doing heavy work in the gym with weights. He has already spoken about it in the past. Gavaskar believes that the fast bowlers lifting heavy weights in the gym is a major reason that many of them suffer back injuries. He backed his opinion by citing examples from the past, saying that bowlers back then used to get less injuries as they didn’t perform such acts at the gym. Recently, Gavaskar spoke once again about the fitness of the bowlers from his playing days and it seemed like a jibe at the current generation of bowlers, who are heavily focussed on lifting heavy weights at gym.
“How did fast bowlers like Kapil Dev and Javagal Srinath play non stop cricket with limited resources, technology and limited recovery process?” was the question asked to Gavaskar on-air during the ongoing India vs England second Test at Edgbaston, Birmingham.
Gavaskar replied to it with a blunt remark that bowlers during his playing days used to do “what his profession required.”
“How did they play? I think their training was a little bit different. Kapil (Dev) was hardly ever in the gym. He was running around, running around and then he was bowling to about five or six batters in the nets. Then he would come in again and bat himself and bowl to a couple more. So basically he was doing what his profession required. What his expertise required which is bowl, bowl and bowl. So his bowling muscles and the whole body was used to bowling. He was a brilliant athlete. I think he could have been a champion in any sport. He did what his profession required. It was to play cricket, practise cricket,” said Gavaskar.
A trip down memory lane with Sunny G, revisiting Kapil’s unmatched fitness #SonySportsNetwork #GroundTumharaJeetHamari #ENGvIND #NayaIndia #DhaakadIndia #TeamIndia #ExtraaaInnings pic.twitter.com/yu8B37R1DC
— Sony Sports Network (@SonySportsNetwk) July 4, 2025
Notably, injuries to fast bowlers have become a serious concern in cricket now, with Indian pacers being no expection. The team’s ace pacer Jasprit Bumrah has struggled with injuries in the past and as a result of that the team management has decided to play him in only three of the five Test matches in England.
Veteran India pacer Mohammed Shami too has battled injuries in the past. Rising pace sensation Mayank Yadav and another fast bowler Umran Malik have also missed a lot of cricket due to their respective injures, and the list goes on.
