Goa’s renowned Orthopaedic surgeon Dr Mahendra Kudchadkar has emphasised that the safety gear used in Cricket, needs to be upgraded to enhance the level of protection from serious injuries caused by the impact of the ball.
Himself an avid cricketer, Dr Kudchadkar delivered a lecture at the 7th World Congress on Science and Medicine in Cricket in Chandigarh recently with the focus being on the use of bullet-proof ‘Kevlar’ material and other composite plastics in the safety gear.
Such a congregation happens every four years coinciding with the World Cup and is attended by scientists, physical trainers, physios, researchers, doctors and team physicians from all cricket-playing nations to discuss the sport. Deliberations are held on charting out the strategies to improve performance, nutrition, prevention of injuries and development/design of equipments.
Addressing the congress, on ‘How safety gear in cricket can be improved’; Dr Kudchadkar provided data to back the necessity of cricket safety gear to get better in terms of material and design in order to make it stronger, lighter and weather-proof.
Dr Kudchadkar crucially stressed on the helmet design and material to be used. He suggested the use of Kevlar or Graphite, and other composite plastics to improve the impact-attenuation capacity and make it safer by improving the design. The Cricket pads and centre-guards along with gloves, need to be safer and have user-friendly design, asserted Dr Kudchadkar.
He also emphasised on how this safety gear must be made compulsory to use. He also pointed out the need to provide strict guidelines to the manufacturers about using the approved safety gear so that head and facial injuries are reduced in frequency.
Dr Kudchadkar himself has represented Goa in cricket as an opening batsman. He has personally experienced perils of the red cherry injury and how unsafe and faulty gear can be more detrimental. His experience as a player, sports medicine specialist and now an Innovator and Researcher; puts him in a strong position to provide tips on safety and injury prevention in cricket and recommending change in design, fit and materials used for manufacturing the present-day Cricket gear.
The participants at the congress appreciated the lecture and the media provided comprehensive coverage for the analytical and solution-based research work by Dr Kudchadkar, who is also the Head of the Department at Healthway Hospitals and has also been the Past-president of Indian Foot and Ankle Society.
