NEW DELHI: In an attempt to maintain a BCCICentrally contracted players in the first form of skilled skills, the Center of Excellence (CoE) launched a program called performance block. TOI understands that this program has opened doors for international players to hone their cricketing skills at any time of the year, apart from being an integral part of a player’s return-to-play process after injury.Sources told TOI that Hardik Pandya chose to go for the performance block instead of pushing to get fit for the ODI series in England. Harshit Rana is the first player who has declared himself fully fit for this program.“The CoE was largely a rehabilitation center for international cricketers. The cricketing programs were restricted to age and zonal camps. Now, India’s players can come at any time and have very specialized sessions to work on minute things in their game. There will be a dedicated coaching staff working with the players. Also, under this programme, an injured player can only be cleared as fit to play for India if he is playing to his potential,” a BCCI source told TOI.First, an injured player was cleared clinically after going through some match simulation sessions. Often, the CoE does not have a quality pool of players to play these mock matches.Hardik is now the first big name to go through this new programme. The selection committee and the team management are worried about Hardik’s ability to bowl 10 overs in an ODI. He was reported to have bowled 10 overs at the CoE in the first week of June before he suffered a quadriceps injury on June 9. The timeline given for his recovery was three weeks, which would be the end of June or the first week of July. The selectors named the squad on Sunday without considering Hardik. “Hardik is very clear in his mind that he will not take the field for India unless he is at the top of his game – both physically and in cricket. He doesn’t want to push himself and put his body at risk with the ODI World Cup 16 months away. He contacted CoE and joined the performance block. He wants to work on specific cricket skills besides getting some fitness first,” said the source.According to this performance blocking program, if a fast bowler is undergoing rehabilitation, his bowling will also be evaluated by gradually increasing the workload. When the bowler is able to bear the load, it will be observed if he can perform well to take that load. If the fast bowler is not doing well in a session, his return to the game may be delayed.In Hardik’s case, the CoE will work on bowling and batting according to the 50-over format. “Hardik hasn’t played much 50-over cricket in the last two years. He needs to get some aspects right before diving into that format,” the source said.