BCCI Centre of Excellence: The exclusion of Jasprit Bumrah from the Test series against Sri Lanka, starting August 15, has exposed a serious lack of coordination between the Board of Control for Cricket in India’s Centre of Excellence and the National Selection Committee. According to reports, the selectors were assured that Bumrah would be available for at least one Test match against Sri Lanka. However, it was later revealed that his injury was more serious. A virtual meeting was held between CoE officials and Ajit Agarkar to address the situation.
Serious questions raised on the work of CoE
Since Nitin Patel’s resignation, the BCCI has been without an official head of sports science, and the Bengaluru-based high-performance center is currently headed by interim head Dhananjay Kaushik. Several questions are being raised regarding the players’ rehabilitation and return-to-play protocols. In Harshit Rana’s case, questions are being raised about how the sports science team declared him fit despite his visibly overweight. Subsequently, his hamstring injury resurfaced.
There’s also the question of young all-rounder Washington Sundar’s recurring hamstring problems. Did the sports science team take any notice of his frequent breakdowns? Did Nitish Reddy receive an NOC to train with freelance fast bowling coach Stephen Jones to increase his bowling speed? Did the sudden increase in speed affect his hamstring? Meanwhile, Sai Sudarshan, who is battling a leg injury, is batting for 75 minutes in the nets, but the selectors fear he too might be declared unfit at the last minute.
Indian team physio Kamlesh Jain under investigation
Due to the increasing number of injuries to players, the role of the Indian team’s main physio, Kamlesh Jain, is now under scrutiny. Jain, who has been associated with Team India for the past five years, is quite popular among the players, but given the spate of injuries within the team, questions have been raised about his performance.
All eyes are on the BCCI review meeting.
A high-level BCCI review meeting is pending since the England tour. Head coach Gautam Gambhir, Chairman of Selectors Ajit Agarkar, CoE Head of Cricket VVS Laxman, and BCCI Secretary Devjit Saikia will attend this meeting, where this issue is expected to be raised. A major decision could be taken during this meeting regarding the sports science team and physio Kamlesh Jain.