The multi-purpose training centre at SRMC in Chennai.

Ravindra Jadeja lays face-down on a special turfed-floor inside the multi-purpose training centre at the SRMC. After getting some strengthening work done with the help of the BCCI’s head trainer Sudarshan, he heads outdoors to one of the nine practice net pitches for some bowling and training. The Indian cricket board isn’t using the facilities of SRMC for just checking illegal bowling actions but also for their entire rehabilitation work. In the not-so-distant past, Jadeja would have been in Bangalore at the National Cricket Academy for his rehabilitation for the injury that forced him to come back from Australia mid-way during the Test series. These days, Chennai calls.

“We have a wholesome understanding with SRMC,” BCCI’s MV Sridhar says. This is a one-stop shop for us. Our entire rehabilitation and biomechanics requirements are done here now. Our head physio Nitin Patel and head trainer Sudarshan are based in Chennai.”

When the players arrive here for rehab, they first get medically assessed by the doctors before the BCCI personnel take over, using the various multidisciplinary services on offer at SRMC. The Indian board has its own set of specialist suites on the first floor where the equipment from NCA Bangalore is being brought in. But the high-performance centre here has all the goodies: A high-altitude training chamber, physiology lab, a special pool for hydrotherapy… the whole jazz. Each room houses a state of the art equipment or two that can enable faster rehabilitation and prevention. A Isokinectic machine offers precise assessments of muscles, the altitude chamber aids in endurance, the exercise physiology labs help build players’ physiological profile.

The nine practice pitches are exclusive to the BCCI and there is also a cricket ground where the state junior cricket tournaments are played.

“It’s an integrative facility that caters end-to-end solutions for us,” Sridhar says.