BCCI's Merry-Go-Round with Injuries

BCCI, three weeks after including the “80%” fit Ravindra Jadeja in the XIII for the Perth Test, match again raised eyebrows when they initially declared Ravichandran Ashwin unfit for play in a release but included him in the final XIII for the Sydney game.

One of the tweets on BCCI’s official twitter handle said that “A decision on R. Ashwin’s availability will be taken on the morning of the test,” which raised questions regarding his availability for the last game of the Test series.

India name 13-man squad for SCG Test: Virat Kohli (C), A Rahane (VC), KL Rahul, Mayank Agarwal, C Pujara, H Vihari, R Pant, R Jadeja, K Yadav, R Ashwin, M Shami, Jasprit Bumrah, Umesh Yadav A decision on R Ashwin's availability will be taken on the morning of the Test #AUSvIND pic.twitter.com/4Lji2FExU8

— BCCI (@BCCI) January 2, 2019

Although during the clips of the practice session that were out on the internet, one could hardly tell that his shoulder injury was good enough a reason to keep him out of the team for the two Tests.

Now that he has been brought back into the squad after that unsure tweet has again raised up doubts regarding BCCI’s and the Indian team management's injury diagnostic and management plans. They had previously faced flak during the Asia Cup where three players of the side had been ruled out of the tournament due to injury issues.

With Virat Kohli’s claims about playing with a ‘hurting back since 2011,’ there needs to be some assessment of BCCI and Indian team management’s scheme of things as the very skipper has been playing in the side almost without break since the year he mentioned.

Previously, Wriddhiman Saha had faced a career-threatening injury scare after his shoulder injury aggravated due to lack of proper assessment. Barinder Sran of Punjab has not been spotted on the field after his injury has been severed due to improper diagnosis.

Since, this problem has even occurred even at the state team’s level, its high time for BCCI to introduce some standards of fitness and injury management. Otherwise, it could cost the board dearly as its current crop of athletes faces a potential threat due to the tight playing schedules and the World Cup just months away from now.

The hide and seek policy in the team’s selection has also received a fair bit of criticism and if the uncertainty in the team’s selection and the availability status of the players remains as it is, and with the World Cup around the corner, it will be a huge speed breaker for the team’s performance and also a glaring blot in the reputation of the board which has been known for its concern and regard for its players.