CHENNAI: While the cricketing fraternity is celebrating Auqib Nabi becoming the first from Jammu and Kashmir to get a call-up to the Test team, Jasprit Bumrah joining the long list of injured cricketers has raised alarm bells in Indian cricket. Bumrah's injury has come as a huge blow given the significance of the Sri Lanka tour with regards to the World Test Championship.
The list only is only growing longer. Hardik Pandya, who has moved to Bengaluru, is yet to play for India since the T20 World Cup win. Nitish K Reddy, looked at as Pandya's back-up, came into the Indian Premier League (IPL) rejuvenated. He had also increased his ability to bowl quicker but he picked up a quadriceps injury before the England tour. Washington Sundar, who has had a history of injury concerns, will miss at least the first Test due to a leg injury he picked up in England. Harshit Rana's history with hamstring concerns does not paint a rosy picture. Then there are the likes of Varun Chakaravarthy and B Sai Sudharsan — both have had injuries in recent times.
Now, injuries are part and parcel of the sport; in Bumrah's case, it was an impact injury on his knee while fielding against England in the second ODI. However, what raises concerns is the recurring injuries among India internationals in recent times. Even Shubman Gill raised questions on the fitness record following the ODI series loss in England. "If one player is injured you look at playing another combination, two players are injured you look at playing another combination, but if after every match some player is missing then somewhere we are missing a trick. If you keep the World Cup as the goal where we have to play 11 matches in a row and here we have players not being able to finish a two-to-three-match series," Gill had said, leaving the spotlight on the BCCI Centre of Excellence, the players and the support staff.
Former India strength and conditioning coach Ramji Srinivasan feels an open line of communication from BCCI to everyone involved is key in managing injuries of the players. "There has to be an open line of communication among everyone in the ecosystem. There cannot be any dark edges when you are playing for the country. So, there has to be accountability from all the support staff — from S&C to sports science to physio — and the players. Everybody needs to be accountable," Srinivasan, the director of Sports Dynamix, told this daily.
"We have got the wrong traction of workload management. We cannot go by just numbers. We have to go by how the athlete feels, not the numbers that you are crunching. It has to be from session to session. Every session, every day, every hour, the athlete's body is different, mind is different. That comes under adaptability either from the support staff or by the players. How you adapt to a system and work accordingly to get the maximum benefit out of it. You cannot be rigid in your system," he added.
The Indian team, meanwhile, will leave for Sri Lanka on Tuesday and will play a three-day warm-up fixture before the Test series. The BCCI review meeting — supposed to happen after the England tour — is likely to happen only after the tour and the issue of fitness and injuries are also expected to be discussed at the time. In the meantime, Gill and head coach Gautam Gambhir will be hoping that the other members of the squad remain fit and perform to their best through the next three weeks.