Recently, Shubman Gill, the India captain in ODIs and Tests, shared his thoughts on the growing list of injured cricketers. Gill’s opinion merits a closer look as a slew of Indian cricketers are missing from action due to injuries, starting from Jasprit Bumrah, Sai Sudharsan, Hardik Pandya to Nitish Reddy and Co.
VVS Laxman, head of the Centre of Excellence, however, observed that there weren’t any communication breakdowns between the selection panel, CoE staff and the Indian think-tank. “There’s brilliant coordination between the COE, between the team management of both the teams and the SSM (Sports Science & Medicine) staff of both men’s and women’s teams. And the selection committee.
“The process is that the selector reaches out to the COE asking for the fitness status report. And we collect the current status and send a fitness status report to the selection committee chairman or chairperson in women’s selection committee with a copy to obviously the head coach of both the teams and the BCCI,” he added.
Laxman also shared in detail the framework followed at CoE. And he gave the example of how the communication process was handled as far as Bumrah and Sudharsan’s injuries are concerned. Both the cricketers were picked for the ongoing Test series in Sri Lanka, but their availability was based on fitness clearance from the Centre of Excellence. As it turned out, the duo was ruled out of the series.
“Now, Bumrah and Sai Sudarshan. You know, there’s always an asterisk and this is one thing which you all will know that when the media release comes from the BCCI, there’s an asterisk attached to a player’s selection. And what does that asterisk mean? It means subject to fitness. So, Bumrah and Sai Sudarshan were going to be picked for Sri Lanka subject to fitness clearance,” he noted. “And as I told before, you know, you assess them, you move them from one stage to the next stage and if the progression is slow, you communicate to the selection committee chairman and the head coach which is happening seamlessly.
“And they [players] understand that they’re not yet ready to participate in the national series. It’s always player-centric and team-centric. So that communication is happening seamlessly. I think what the BCCI has done is there’s transparency in all the fitness reports and also in the selection. At the end of the selection, whether it’s a release to the press, it’s clearly mentioned that these players are picked subject to fitness. Means if they don’t clear the fitness test, the selectors will know who the other players are who will go in their place if they don’t clear the fitness test. I mean, it’s basic common sense.
“Once that diagnosis happens, then those players through the Indian team, SSM staff are sent to the COE and from the time they come here, there are two things which we do. Obviously, we clinically examine [through] the SSM team. Based on that assessment, we know what the plan of action for them is to recover and go back and join the team.
“Once the player is ready for the next phase, which is your strength and conditioning, then the SNC comes and plays a part. Now, once the next phase starts after the SNC, slowly they go to the skill part and then we build up the load and then we play two RTP matches before we declare the player fit,” he added.
He also took a deep dive on how it is difficult to give a perfect timeframe for a cricketer’s recovery. “The whole idea is that when he goes back to the Indian team, men and women, or wherever, including the state teams or whatever teams he is participating, he has to be up and running and from the first match, he has been able to perform to the best of his potential. Now, it’s an objective way of assessing the player to move from one stage to the next stage.
“And this is where I think it’s very important to understand that the guidelines and the timelines are given based on what you expect. But it’s a human body. It is not a machine where the timelines will always be met.”
Devajit Saikia, the BCCI Secretary, also took a deep dive with regard to how conditional selections are made. “We basically have our selection meetings at least three to four weeks before the team departs. So therefore, three weeks before or four weeks before, we do not know the exact status of the player. Therefore, that asterisk subject to fitness is given because that particular player is under a program of rehabilitation,” Saikia said.
“So if he gets fit within the period of 21 days or 28 days, he will be taken into the team. We do not outrightly reject him, because [he’s not fit] on the date of selection. But by the time he will be effectively required to travel or to play the match, by that time, he may be totally fit. So in that situation, we always say subject to fitness. So we do not deprive the player also,” he said.
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