Shane Watson

Calcutta: Fitness issues have hit the touring Australians hard, with five players having to return home, but the injury-prone Shane Watson hasn’t had a problem.

One reason for the all-rounder’s clean run could be that physio John Gloster (a fellow-Australian) has, as part of a “private arrangement,” also been working with him.

Gloster, who was with Team India for three years (and with Bangladesh before that), is the physio of the Rajasthan Royals, Watson’s IPL franchise.

Watson has gone on record saying that exposure with the Royals has helped “revive” his career. He didn’t specifically talk of Gloster, then, but probably had him in mind.

Asked whether Watson’s “private arrangement” had Cricket Australia (CA)’s approval, the team’s media manager, Lachy Patterson, told The Telegraph: “It’s fine with CA… It’s not an issue if a player wants to work with somebody in addition to the support staff which is already in place…”

But wouldn’t private arrangements leave the door open for confusion and worse?

“As far as I know, the team’s physio on tour (Kevin Sims) and Gloster have been in touch with each other over email,” Patterson replied, when contacted in Hyderabad.

For now, at least, the physios and the all-rounder (MoM in the last ODI, in Mohali) have worked well together.

In the past, Watson has suffered a shoulder dislocation, hamstring injuries and faced a calf muscle problem as well.

With that track record, Ricky Ponting, for one, must be keeping fingers crossed.