PVL 2022: Kolkata Thunderbolts physio recalls working with Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag

Kolkata Thunderbolts physiotherapist Dr Adnan Badr has had the experience of working in different sports leagues across the nation.

Badr will ply his trade for Kolkata Thunderbolts in the ongoing season of the Prime Volleyball League. Meanwhile, Badr recalled his experience of working with legendary cricketers like Sachin Tendulkar and Virender Sehwag.

Badr was involved with India Legends Cricket Team in the Road Safety series and had the pleasure of working with players like Yuvraj Singh and Zaheer Khan. He shared his experience of giving warm-up exercises to these big Indian players.

“It was a great experience alongside working with the legends of Indian cricket. It is always fun and exciting when you are with people like Sehwag and Yuvraj who always keep you entertained and keep having fun. It was a totally different ambiance around there,” he said.

Dr Badr revealed he mostly keeps it to himself and shared an interesting anecdote regarding Virender Sehwag and Sachin Tendulkar.

“When it comes to my work, I am very professional and I keep interactions limited. But I do remember one instance when I was doing warm-up sessions with the Indian Legends team. It was a dynamic warm-up with a lot of stretches. I remember Sehwag and Tendulkar both saying, ‘Dr. Sahab, humko jawan logo wali training mat karao, easy wali karao’,” he said.

Meanwhile, Virender Sehwag is known to enjoy himself on and off the field as he likes to joke around. However, it is well known that Sachin Tendulkar is more focussed and disciplined and has a different aura about himself.

“Sehwag is always fun in the dressing room. When he is in the dressing room, he will keep fooling around with everybody. Whenever Sachin sir is there, everyone will be disciplined and be very silent. It was a memorable experience,” he said.

Badr also opened up on some of the sessions he has had with Kolkata Thunderbolts squad.

“We had some great sessions at the camp in Kochi. We conducted some aggressive plyometric training, speed and agility drills sessions on the court to deep tissue release and pain management sessions back in the physio room. We did a complete assessment of the players from a musculoskeletal perspective; which included checking for their muscle tightness, stiffness, range of motion, strength, etc,” he said.

Meanwhile, Kolkata Thunderbolts got off to a winning start in PVL 2020 as they defeated Calicut Heroes by 3-2. They will next face Chennai Blitz on Friday in Hyderabad.