Indian chief-selector Ajit Agarkar has reportedly expressed his frustration over the injury management of Centre of Excellence (CoE) following Jasprit Bumrah’s latest injury concerns. Notably, Bumrah, who had cleared the fitness test and was set to travel to Sri Lanka for the forthcoming two-Test series, has been ruled out of the squad due to persistent discomfort in his knee. While the squad has announced Aquib Nabi as his replacement, this has come as a big blow for the side who is set to begin their WTC cycle with the upcoming series.
Amidst all of this, a report by PTI suggests that the CoE had earlier conveyed to Agar and Co. that the premium pacer would be able to travel to the island nation. However, per the latest development, his injury turned out to be a lot more serious than initially assumed, ruling him out of the tour completely. Per reports, there was a virtual meeting between the top officials of CoE, including VVS Laxman, and the head of selection committee Ajit Agarkar to discuss the injury management of centrally contracted players.
Jasprit Bumrah’s Injury Exposes Big Cracks in CoE’s Injury Management of Centrally Contracted Players
As Bumrah’s injury concern resurfaced a couple of weeks before the series, it has led to exposure of big cracks among players’ injury management at the Centre of Excellence. Notably, the CoE has been without an official head of sports science Nitin Patel’s exit, and is currently functioning under the interim head, Dhananjay Kaushik. Amidst all of this, several questions have emerged over the rehabilitation timelines being set for players.
Reports suggest that injury concerns of three players emerged, which could be Harshit Rana, Washington Sundar, and Nitish Reddy. Sources suggest that ‘a popular T20 specialist batter from one of the southern states’ was also ‘overweight’ when he arrived in England. Now, the question that arises here is how was that player given clarification despite not meeting the standard of fitness. In addition to it, reports suggest that the questions were being raised in the BCCI over the rehab timelines set for players.
"The safest thing is to rule a player out but the current sports science staff at CoE doing enough to get top players on park on time. Selectors were assured Bumrah will be available for at least one Test,” a BCCI source told PTI. "Now they have been conveyed that Sai Sudharsan is batting in the nets for 75 minutes and is showing signs of good recovery after suffering a foot injury. But what if selectors are later told that Sai won't be fit in time for the first Test against Sri Lanka," it added.
It has been reported that the role of Indian team physio Kamlesh Jain is also under scanners. While Jain is quite popular with the players, a few injuries have put him in hot water. It is understood Indian head coach Gautam Gambhir and Ajit Agarkar are waiting for the BCCI’s review meeting that will also include VVS Laxman and secretary Devajit Saika, though the date of the meeting remains unknown.
