New BCCI president Roger Binny admits frequent injuries a concern

New BCCI president Roger Binny has admitted that the cricket board will need to look at ways to reduce injuries to players. Giving the example of lead pacer Jasprit Bumrah, he stated that his unavailability due to fitness issues affected Team India’s T20 World Cup 2022 plans.

Bumrah was named in India's original T20 World Cup squad but was subsequently ruled out due to a back injury. Even Deepak Chahar, who only recently returned from a long injury layoff, is unfit again. Chahar was among the standbys for the ICC event.

Addressing his first press conference after taking over the reins of the BCCI, Binny, himself a pacer during his playing days, asserted that fitness will be given top priority. He said:

"We will look to improve on what we can do to reduce the injuries to players. Bumrah got injured just before the World Cup, which affects the whole plan.

"Players getting frequently injured is a concern and we wish to get to the bottom of it all and see how it can be changed for the better. We have to sit down and discuss what's going wrong. We have excellent trainers, physios and other experts. But we need to talk to them and figure out why so many players are getting injured."

It may be recalled that a few days back, former India head coach Ravi Shastri had also expressed concern over India's fast bowlers getting injured frequently. Shastri had said:

“Bumrah has played 5 matches since the last T20 World Cup and he's injured. So, you've got to look at it very seriously, as to why it is happening.”

India have named Mohammed Shami as Bumrah’s replacement for the T20 World Cup. Incidentally, the former's last T20I for India came during the T20 World Cup last year.

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“We need to make lively pitches in domestic cricket” - Roger Binny

Speaking about his other priorities, the 1983 World Cup-winner stressed the need to improve the quality of pitches being used for domestic cricket in India. He explained:

"We need to make lively pitches in domestic cricket.so that when our players go overseas, it helps them,. There needs to be more life on the wickets at home, so that our teams would not have the problem of adjusting when travelling abroad, like in Australia where there is more pace and bounce.”

Meanwhile, outgoing BCCI president Sourav Ganguly wished Binny all the best, asserting that the Indian cricket board is in great hands.

Binny, 67, represented India in 27 Tests and 72 ODIs from 1979 to 1987.