NEW DELHI: India’s ODI and Test Captain Shubman Gill expressed concern over his team’s fitness standards after the ODI series defeat in England. A streak of players going down before or during the series repeatedly left the team depleted last year. Gill suggested that India might be missing a trick in managing players’ fitness.His comments brought into focus the breakdown of a system built on coordination between the Indian team management and the Center of Excellence (CoE). Not long ago, India had all its key players fit and available for three ICC events in 2023, 2024 and 2025. TOI understands that some senior players are struggling to adapt to a new system after a personnel change last year. The most worrying aspect has been the recurrence of hamstring injuries.“The spate of recent hamstring injuries suggests that players have not been absolutely fit before taking the field. There appears to be a gap in communication about a player’s fitness status and workload between the CoE and team management,” BCCI sources say. The CoE has not appointed a chief of medical staff since Nitin Patel left. “There has been no update to the SOPs drawn up in 2023. Data collection has become more robust, but actualization has become slower,” the source added.
The players pushed without a clear plan
During Rahul Dravid’s tenure as head coach, the BCCI medical team, the CoE and the team management had mapped out year-long roadmaps for individual players around major ICC events. The objective was to get each player to the required fitness level in time for the next ICC tournament or brand test series.The recurring injuries suffered by Harshit Rana and Nitish Kumar Reddy did not go down well with the BCCI. Sources said Reddy was pushed to bowl close to 140 kmph to make up for the injury suspension. Hardik Pandya.“Reddy has worked with English bowling coach Stefan Jones to increase his pace. But this should be a gradual process when he is with the team leading up to a big event. Instead, he pushes himself to bowl faster as long as he is with the team,” said the source.“It is a little concerning how Harshit was removed from the CoE at the insistence of the team management when he had not reached his pre-winter knee weight. These things need more care,” added the source.Jasprit Bumrah, for example, is a special case for BCCI. Even with his history, he’s barely pushed to high speed months away from a marquee mission. Their charges are gradually increased to reach the desired level when the assignment arrives.Akash Deep, who had recently taken charge of Bengal’s pace attack in several Ranji Trophy campaigns, was unable to carry the load of two Test matches on the bounce back from injury in last year’s IPL.“Akash ruptured his hamstring in between Tests in England last year. He was then again ruled out of domestic cricket. He played until Bengal lost the Ranji semi-final and has been out with a stress fracture ever since. “It remains to be seen if the injury prevention measures are implemented properly.As for Gill, he also struggled with a hamstring in the recent ODI series in England after crossing 50 in two matches.
Little support between assignments
It is learned that many players are anxious about the limited communication from the BCCI medical team when they are not traveling with the national side.“These days, there are very few players of all formats. Most players get decent breaks between international assignments. If they do not undergo rehabilitation in the CoE, they are left on their own. There is little communication,” said the source.The most recent example is Rohit Sharma’s hamstring problem during the IPL. When the Mumbai Indians management struggled to identify the problem for almost a month, Rohit took the initiative and consulted the records in the BCCI database, which had monitored him when he played all three formats.The team management is also worried about the Washington Sundar who is breaking down repeatedly. It is understood that although Reddy, Rana and Washington are young, they spend a significant amount of time with the physicals recovering from injuries.“In addition to Washington, who has always had fitness problems, it is concerning to see Sanju Samson put on weight so easily. It is the result of the gap in the system. The general camp standard has fallen because of these fitness problems,” said the source.“The players need more of an empathetic, more hands-on approach from the medical team. At the moment, most seasoned international cricketers are reluctant to seek CoE intervention. They prefer to train on their own arrangements elsewhere. This needs to be addressed,” added the source.
