Meditation will help cricket players to adapt quicker: Kannan

“The pace of the game is only getting faster with the evolution of the sport. Fitness will have to be better than it used to be. There is so little time in between games. Meditation plays an important role in keeping ourselves relaxed. I would advise them to do it for 15-20 minutes prior to getting on to the field. It will help the players adapt quickly and effectively,” said Kannan ahead of the twelfth anniversary of SPARRC (Sports Performance Assessment Rehabilitation Research Counselling Institute). 

Speaking on the amount of emphasis an athlete should lay on his nutrition, he said, “What we eat makes what we are. What goes through the mouth bases the quality of the output.” 

Kannan, who was once a team physician for the Indian cricket team, believes the country is still a long way behind in terms of Sports Medicine when compared to nations like the USA and UK. “People still don’t consider sport as a career in our country. Only about 10% of the population are aware of the avenues that are available. It is very difficult to help people who have very little resources to fall back upon.” added the 55-year-old. 

When queried about the journey he has been part of for the past 12 years, the 55-year-old asserted, “It’s been filled with so much of experience. It has just given us an evolutionary state in which we are able to relieve the patient of their problems. I really owe a lot to my team who have worked as a unit.” 

Commenting on the hardship he faced to pursue this course, he added, “People around me were not aware of what it was about. I had no teacher to learn from. Even at that time there were no courses offered in the USA and UK. It took me 13 years to find out a college (in New South Wales) which offered a program on Sports Medicine.”