Reports: NCA refuse to conduct Jasprit Bumrah's fitness test

Jasprit Bumrah might find himself in trouble after the National Cricket Academy reportedly refused to conduct his fitness test which would have ensured a faster comeback for Bumrah to the national team. As per a report in Times of India, NCA director Rahul Dravid met with Bumrah along with physiotherapist Ashish Kaushik and asked him to consult his own set of specialist doctors.

The reports suggested that Bumrah’s decision to hire his own team of specialists and trainers for the recovery process from his stress fracture didn’t go down well with Rahul Dravid and Co. It has been learnt that Bumrah wasn’t keen to train at the NCA. He chose to travel to the UK to consult specialist doctors.

Bumrah, in a bid to return to the Indian team soon, flew to Bangalore and trained in the nets with the Indian team. It seemed that Bumrah was bowling at his full tilt and could make a comeback sometime soon. However, with NCA refusing to conduct Bumrah’s fitness test, he might have to wait a bit longer for his return to international cricket.

They have told him, ‘You’re fine. So there’s no need of a fitness test. You should go and seek it from the specialists you’ve been working with’,” a source was quoted as saying by the Times of India.

It is learnt that Bumrah had received some negative feedback about NCA from senior cricketers. Hence, he decided against training there during his recovery process. The NCA did come under the scanner in the past but the appointment of Rahul Dravid could be a huge positive going forward. In the past, BCCI had made attempts to alter the dynamics of the academy but in vain.

“Most senior players don’t want to go to the NCA. Instead of addressing that concern and understanding why players don’t want to come there, the NCA is turning him away. That’s not how we need to deal with a cricketer who’s changed the face of Indian fast bowling over the last two years,” the source added.

As per quotes from a source in NCA, Dravid is still in his initial stages at the helm of NCA and he would gradually figure out how to implement new methods and ideas.

“Rahul (Dravid) is still very new to the NCA. It’s been just a few months since he has taken over,” the source said.

“He’s still trying to comprehend how things have been functioning at the academy. To be fair to the NCA, more than 200 cricketers from across the country come there to train and learn. It’s not just about one or two individuals. Rahul is trying to put better systems in place.”

Bumrah has been out of the international arena since the Test series in West Indies. In that particular series, Bumrah became the 3rd Indian bowler after Harbhajan Singh and Irfan Pathan to bag a Test hat-trick.

He has been the face of Indian bowling in the last couple of years across formats. However, his absence hasn't quite hurt India in the longest format but they have been found wanting in the limited-overs format. His skills in the death overs have been dearly missed by India.