Injury management, road to ODI World Cup in focus
CHENNAI: Head coach Gautam Gambhir, T20I skipper Shreyas Iyer, ODI and Test captain Shubman Gill, chief selector Ajit Agarkar and head of cricket, Centre of Excellence VVS Laxman will be in attendance at the BCCI headquarters as secretary Devajit Saikia will convene a review meeting on Thursday. From the series loss in England and Ireland to the long list of injuries, player management and the way forward for the Indian team in the lead up to the 2027 ODI World Cup South Africa, the top brass is set to discuss the key issues in Indian cricket. Apart from those present in Mumbai, a few other office likely to join virtually for the meeting which was supposed to happen before the Sri Lanka tour but had to be postponed.
Among the key topics of discussion would be the injury management of players. It has been a hot topic of debate over the last weeks with multiple India internationals spending time at the CoE. Hardik Pandya, Jasprit Bumrah, Nitish K Reddy, Washington Sundar and B Sai Sudharsan are some of the big names that were originally named in squads subject to fitness clearance, but missed the cutnamed in squads subject to fitness clearance, but missed the cut eventually. In fact, even in the 15-member squad named for the three T20Is against Afghanistan next week, four players are subject to fitness tests. This brought the CoE under the scanner, and Saikia and Laxman explained why the facility is not merely a rehab centre. However, at the meeting on Thursday, it is expected to be discussed at length to ensure that there is no gap of communbetween players, CoE, team management and the selectors.
Which is also essential for India now more than ever considering the road ahead towards the 2027 ODI World Cup. With the focus shifting towards the 50-over format, the BCCI and team management will be looking to figure out a way to keep the top pool of players injury free, especially the likes of Pandya and Reddy. Pandya is still India’s first-choice pace-bowling all-rounder with Reddy as back up, but both of them are not near full fitness. How to manage them and what needs to be done to ensure they remain available through the WC will bediscussed, especially skipper Gill expressing his concerns over injuries in England.