The Boys Of Substance...

When Flesh is Marred, and Spirit is Intra-Venous

As an orthopaedic surgeon, I’ve treated many professional sportspersons with musculoskeletal problems brought on by the use of steroids in some form or another (The Boys of Substance, July 9). Steroids, if taken systematically, can damage various organs of the body, mainly the stomach, endocrine glands, heart, liver, kidneys, etc. Repeated local intra-articular steroid injections can also cause muscle/ tendon ruptures and trigger early onset of arthritis. Hence, although steroids might give temporary and quick relief to some sports injuries, their unsupervised and long-term abuse leads to problems and can even shorten the professional lifespan of a sportsperson.
Dr Raju Vaishya, New Delhi

I’m a UK-trained consultant in sports medicine. Your cover story doesn’t prove anything. Gaekwad’s named world players without understanding what steroids are used for. Normally players come to doctors for steroid injections seeking pain relief, not enhancing performance. That is not doping. Nor is cricket a high-intensity sport to compare it with tennis or football. A Sachin wouldn’t be able to hit a ball harder, whatever he might take.
Dr Seemit Dhange, Mumbai

Thank you for revealing the use of drugs in cricket. If it wasn’t for courageous journalists like you, crooks and cheats would take over everything. People who’re in higher places either have no guts to clean up cricket or they’re willing participants in these activities. As long as you’re telling the truth, you’ve served your nation and cricket lovers of the world.
Lal Warna, on e-mail

Once again you have a situation when someone ends up denying a so-called detailed interview. Why doesn’t this happen abroad. Because there the interview is actually recorded whereas in India it’s the interviewer’s word against the interviewee’s. Should the media here too make it clear whether an interview is to be off or on the record, it wouldn’t get into such ridiculous situations post-publication.
Suryanarayan Ganesh, Denmark

Drugs can be used with minimal side-effect under proper medical care and be made available to all sportsmen.
Dr Ajay B., on e-mail

Dope has smashed the hopes we have from Indian cricket. Former Indian opener and ex-coach Gaekwad has hit the team for a six though one does not know why he was playing defensive all these years. When will the icc make drug tests mandatory for cricketers and save the gentleman’s game?
Altaf H. Ladiwala, Mumbai

A sport is a sport and there’s no reason why cricket should be exempt from drug tests.
Rananjay Anand, Patna

The tragedy isn’t that the Indian team uses performance-enhancing drugs, it is that even with their use, it remains such an average team!
Mark McDonald, on e-mail

The brand names of certain drugs allegedly being used by cricketers are not of stimulants. Corex and Zedex are cough syrups; Sudafed and Actifed are medicines used for running noses. Most of them contain a class of drugs called antihistamines which have a tendency to put people to sleep. No wonder the Indian team looks so groggy on the field!
Dr Rajesh Radhakrishnan, Palakkad

Given the stiff competition to make it to the team and thereafter to stay in, as also the fame and money at stake, it’s hardly surprising that even newcomers should use performance-enhancing drugs. I suggest strict bans on the lines of the acb lest these cricketers set such condemnable examples for the younger generation who consider them demigods.
Prabhjeet Singh, Delhi

You must be joking! No one needs to take drugs in the match-fixing scheme of things.
B.N. Gururaj, Bangalore

It seem you guys are hell-bent on breaking the morale of Indian cricket and are leaving no stone unturned to choke the rhythm and flow that is blooming under the coaching stint of John Wright.
Ashish Kumar, New Delhi

If other sports can be subject to drug tests, why not cricket? Players gaining undue advantage by using external agents to boost performance should be strictly monitored and banned. Otherwise, this will be a slur far worse than match-fixing.
Ashok Buch, Ahmedabad

It’s a shame our players cannot stay out of the limelight for long, and always for the wrong reason. Cricket, really, isn’t a gentleman’s game any more.
Mayank Gupta, New Delhi

How can you accuse players like Rahul Dravid and Srinath, who have done so well for the country, of taking performance-enhancing drugs without proper documentation? These players are the core of the national cricket team. Things had barely settled down and begun to look good after match-fixing and you decide to create a stir out of a non-issue.
Manjiri Joshi, Pune

If you can’t make enough money, you had better shut shop rather than resort to such non-stories.
Venu, on e-mail

I doubt the authenticity of the story of steroid abuse. It’s extremely unlikely for a man of Gaekwad’s stature and wisdom to say such things, loosely. Had he been on to something, he’d have gone to the BCCI. This just seems a gimmick on Outlook’s part to increase circulation. As a matter of fact, I’ve never read Outlook before, leave alone having even heard of the magazine.
Dr P. Rajendran, United Kingdom

It’s a shame that just as all the stuff pertaining to match-fixing and other issues was being sorted out, ex-manager Anshuman Gaekwad should reveal that Indian cricketers might be using drugs. Why did he keep quiet all this while, and emerge now to distract millions of cricket lovers and risk becoming another Manoj Prabhakar?
Seshadri Kumar, on e-mail

Damn you Outlook. How dare you twist what Anshuman Gaekwad said about Indian players? You should be grouped with media criminals like the paparazzi and sent to Somalia!
Michael Barua, on e-mail

Congratulations Outlook, on a great work of fiction. After the excerpts, we now look forward to reading the full version, probably in book form, co-authored by Gaekwad. I’m sure it will be a bestseller.
Vipul Bondal, on e-mail

Outlook is an anti-national, disgraceful and irresponsible journal. Does it belong to Dawood?
Arun Sullia, on e-mail

I do believe that what Gaekwad has said is true, and that journalists have a moral obligation to reveal the truth. But wouldn’t it have been better had you not named specific players but just referred to the issue at hand? If half the players are banned for match-fixing and some others for substance abuse, we might not have a cricket team very soon.
Raghu S., on e-mail

Anyone who doesn’t know the difference between nutritional shakes and steroids is no less than a moron. It’s a pity that Gaekwad in his coaching career never even looked into modern methods to improve players’ performance. He should keep all his "inside information" to himself as it’s not doing our cricket any good.
Harmanpreet Singh,NCSU, US

I feel it is a blatant case of Gaekwad hitting back at the Indian team for not backing him as coach after the brilliant performance in the icc knockout tourney.
Sriwatsan Krishnan, on e-mail

Gaekwad’s supposed revelations are nothing more than speculation and conjecture.
Percy, on e-mail

Freedom of press can’t be misused in a more ghastly manner than it has been by Outlook. How can you play with sportsperson’s lives and careers for a silly piece dripping with sensationalism?
Ravishankar R., on e-mail

So what’s news!
Murali Duggineni, H