Why Indian Sport Can't Afford to Leave Injury to Chance

The Case for Getting Serious About Sports Medicine in India

The five-time champions, Chennai Super Kings endured a difficult IPL season this year, with injuries playing a significant role in disrupting their campaign.

As reported by multiple newspapers, including The Times of India and The Hindu, Chennai Super Kings head coach Stephen Fleming reflected on the challenges after Jamie Overton became the fourth player to be ruled out of the tournament.

"It is unlucky. A couple of the boys came into the competition with niggles... and then he had a fall, so that was unfortunate," Fleming was quoted as saying.

Moments like these leave us pondering whether there is an opportunity to strengthen how we support athletes; not just after an injury occurs, but long before it does. While injuries can never be eliminated entirely, many risks can be identified, monitored, and managed through timely screening, movement analysis, and evidence-based sports medicine.

For a country like India, with an immense reservoir of untapped sporting talent, investing in athlete health from the grassroots may be just as important as identifying talent itself. Helping athletes stay healthy, train consistently, and return safely to sport is an essential part of building sporting excellence.

This is the philosophy that drives Halt Sports Injuries (HSI), the sports medicine initiative of Ortho-One Orthopaedic Speciality Centre, Coimbatore.

Through structured pre-participation screenings, injury risk assessments, sports-specific rehabilitation, and return-to-sport programmes, HSI aims to support athletes at every stage of their journey; not simply by treating injuries, but by helping prevent them wherever possible and enabling athletes to perform with confidence.

India's athletes are capable of extraordinary things. The care that surrounds them should be equally extraordinary.

We are here to make sure it is.