CHENNAI: Even as Kolkata Knight Riders beat Mumbai Indians by four wickets to keep their play-off hopes alive on Wednesday, Shane Watson's remarks on Varun Chakaravarthy's fitness has brought back the attention towards injury management of India players during the Indian Premier League.
Watson revealed that Varun, a BCCI contracted player, had been playing for KKR despite the pain in his left foot. The mystery spinner, who missed three games this season seems to have a hairline fracture in his left foot, but has continued to take the field with the franchise in desperate need for a turnaround. "I'm not exactly sure of where he is on his rehab journey at the moment. All I do know is he's obviously playing through a bit of pain at the moment, which just shows how brave he is, how much he wants to be here to be able to contribute for KKR, and he's still bowling beautifully," Watson said on Wednesday.
This remark comes at a time when questions have been raised about multiple India players managing injuries and playing for their respective franchise in the IPL. Senior India players like Rohit Sharma, Hardik Pandya and Suryakumar Yadav have missed games due to injuries — Rohit came back and been playing as Impact Player — and there were murmurs over full fitness of Arshdeep Singh and Ravindra Jadeja. While Arshdeep was declared fit and Jadeja has been rested, Rohit and Hardik's availability for Afghanistan ODIs is still subject to fitness.
The practice, when it comes to the IPL, has always been franchises keeping the BCCI in loop about injuries to contracted players, but it is up to them whether they rest a player or not. This year has been no different. "So far as the IPL is concerned, the franchisees do take care about the injuries and the fitness of the players. Our physios from the CoE are also monitoring them, giving them the workload as well as the plan for how to keep them fit. So, monitoring is there but we cannot interfere too much when the IPL is going on. Now, we are giving that freedom to the franchises who take calls on their players and we definitely look into their fitness level when it comes to selecting the national team," BCCI secretary Devajit Saikia had said on Tuesday.
However, it makes one wonder whether the BCCI should rethink the practice. It is not the first time injury to India players has become an issue. During the 2020 IPL in UAE, lack of clarity over Rohit's fitness became an issue with the Border Gavaskar Trophy Down Under looming. After a left hamstring injury, Rohit missed a couple of games for MI before the franchise shared videos of him batting in the nets. However, he was not named in any of the squad for the Australia tour initially. The then BCCI president Sourav Ganguly had told an Indian publication that the MI skipper played with 70 per cent fitness. In the weeks that followed, Virat Kohli, the then Test captain, was irked by the lack of clarity and called it a "confusing situation." Rohit eventually joined the team after missing the white-ball leg and first two Test matches. While it happened in different circumstances — COVID protocols, bio-bubble, quarantine, etc. — the onus is on BCCI to ensure such a situation does not repeat. Even now, all eyes will be on Rohit's fitness and form, especially since the senior batter has expressed his deep desire to play the ODI World Cup next year.
'Cricketers want to play'
Meanwhile, former India cricketer Vinay Kumar gave the perspective of a player during a select media interaction felicitated by JioStar on Thursday. "At the end of the day, a player wants to play. If the team is in a very good position, if they have a niggle, they can afford to take a break," Kumar said. "... (If) they are supposed to win to qualify, definitely bowlers or any players, they will push themselves because the team has given them everything. They are the one that backed him from day one. That loyalty, that understanding comes in. Also, in a cricket field, maybe in any sport, I think very rarely players will play with 100% fitness. There will be small niggles. Most of the time, they will be 90-95% fit. 5-10% here and there small niggles will be there. They are very much used to doing that," explained the former Karnataka captain, lauding Varun for his effort.
While there is no questioning of any cricketer's commitment to play, the ball is in the BCCI's court to reflect and see if the policy needs a rethink.