Shah Rukh’s display of delight. (AFP)

May 23: The most “hair-raising” moment of IPL5 may belong to Sourav Ganguly but the most inimitable will go to Shah Rukh Khan who went head over heels after Kolkata Knight Riders reached the final.

The Telegraph tries to tackle backbreaking questions the display of delight has thrown up.

Statutory warning: Don’t try any of this at home. Those who are overweight or underweight and cannot lift themselves on their hands should not try cartwheels at all.

What exactly did SRK do? Was it a somersault, cartwheel, handstand or forward flip?

It looks like a cartwheel.

How are they different?

A handstand is the first step towards a cartwheel or a somersault. Here, a person stands on his or her hands. He or she learns to do this by dropping palms on the floor, at least six inches to a foot from the wall. Then he or she presses the heels against the wall and tries to push himself or herself up.

A somersault is standing on your hands, arching to drop your legs backwards on the floor (called chakrasan in yoga, and arching in gymnastics) and then standing on the legs again. The entire process is a somersault.

A forward flip is a somersault executed swiftly.

A cartwheel is like a wheel in motion, usually done sideways. The arms and legs are spread like the spokes of a wheel. The function is that of a handspring and it is a part of gymnastics.

Can any other IPL owner do it?

We have to wait and see. The Telegraph asked some.

Mohit Burman, KXIP: “I don’t think any of us can cartwheel the way SRK does…. SRK is a film star and film stars bring in an element of showmanship to IPL that adds to its glamour. KXIP co-owner Preity Zinta also has a huge fan following in Punjab and she is a big draw. But cartwheels — I am not sure.”

Shilpa Shetty, RR: “I just had a baby….”

N. Srinivasan, CSK: “I would not like to comment on the incident. I am busy with other things.”

Which muscles come into play while doing a cartwheel?

Whenever you are standing on your hands, the shoulders and chest come into play. The biceps and triceps are the stabiliser muscles, which stabilise the elbows or else they will bend. When you use the legs, the glute, hamstrings and quadriceps are exercised. The core muscles in the abdomen and lower back are also involved, without which no one can pull off something like a cartwheel.

Who can pull it off?

Someone who does aerobics regularly should know a thing or two on how to go about it.

But at 46, like SRK?

Like in cricket, age isn’t a factor as long as you perform. Shah Rukh’s feat (or folly) lies in doing it without a proper warm-up.

Why is a warm-up essential?

To make the muscles, which don’t have blood pumping enough through them yet, more flexible and prepare the body for the rigours that await. If you don’t warm up, you run a higher risk of picking up an injury or pulling a muscle.

SRK’s muscles must have been taut in the stands as the contest on the pitch started heating up.

What kind of injuries?

The most susceptible are the shoulder and the spine. If the cartwheel goes wrong, there can be dislocation of the shoulder and injuries to the elbow and wrist. There could also be a whiplash injury of the lower cervical spine, the portion below the neck junction.

The spine has to be straight during the semicircular motion, during which the deltoids (around the shoulder), rotator cuff muscles (providing stability to the shoulder) and cervical muscles (that give stability to the spine) go into contraction. If this contraction is not well synchronised, the muscles could be torn and the spinal discs could slip.

The ankle is at risk, too.

Was it dangerous for SRK, who has suffered a back injury, to do it?

Definitely. Those who had suffered heavy injury in the past and are completely cured now can try if the other conditions are fulfilled. But those still having injury should not try.

Is it more difficult for a regular smoker?

Smoking reduces the oxygen saturation level of the lungs and cuts down supply to the tissues, affecting muscle strength. So, chronic smokers are more prone to muscle injuries.

In what state will a grown-up man be that he can go head over heels in front of thousands of spectators?

When teeth-clenching determination brings success after repeated failure, several excitatory hormones flow from the pituitary glands and elevate the mood. The sudden discharge and the resultant euphoria make a person drop his guard and forget the surroundings.

What does it say of SRK?

Ranadeep Moitra, strength and conditioning coach and t2 columnist, says: If Shah Rukh can do a cartwheel at his age, it means he is definitely not a couch potato. He seems active and with adequate functional training. Of course, considering his back injury, doing cartwheels is a daft thing to do.

It’s dangerous because you can displace a disc in your spine. You can hurt your neck because it’s a hyperextension of the vertebrae, a flip-over of the joints. The ligaments around the vertebrae have to be quite flexible otherwise they can snap.

NANI’S HAPPY FEET

Man U’s Portuguese footballer Nani is known for his trademark somersault. Each time he scores a goal, fans await his show. In July 2007, Alex Ferguson had asked him not to do the somersault but he still went ahead after a stunning goal in the 3-0 win against Irish club Glentoran.

“The celebratory twirl in the air breathes new life back into the game. The day Nani stops somersaulting is the day we should start worrying about his age,” says Manchester United fan Sugata Mukherjee.

Answers based on conversations with Kalyan Mukherjee, sports medicine consultant; Ramendu Hom Chaudhury, orthopaedic surgeon; Ranadip Ghosh Roy, consultant psychiatrist; and Ranadeep Moitra, strength and conditioning coach