“He needs those players who stay fit regularly” – Saba Karim on Rohit Sharma and Co. after Deepak Chahar's injury

Former India international Saba Karim reckons Rohit Sharma and Co. must only pick fit players after their strike bowler Deepak Chahar suffered an injury in the second ODI against Bangladesh on Wednesday (December 7).

The right-arm pacer only bowled three overs in the powerplay before sustaining an apparent hamstring injury. His seven unbowled overs hurt India, as Bangladesh all-rounders Mehidy Hasan and Mahmudullah shared a 148-run stand for the seventh wicket, which helped Bangladesh fight back to 271-7 after being 69-6.

It's worth mentioning that Chahar had suffered a back injury in April, which ruled him out of the 2022 IPL season. He made his international comeback during Team India's white ball tour of the West Indies in August.

Speaking on India News, Saba Karim said:

“You have to take strict action. Rohit Sharma has to stay strong in his decision-making. He needs those players who stay fit regularly. You don’t want players who play one or two matches and go back after getting unfit.”

Karim took the example of ace pacer Jasprit Bumrah, who made his comeback in the T20I series against Australia after getting ruled out of the Asia Cup. The yorker specialist once again suffered an injury after a couple of games before getting ruled out of the T20 World Cup.

“If you look at Jasprit Bumrah. He first got injured and then came back and was again ruled out after one or two games. The problem is the same with everyone, whether it’s experienced players or youngsters."

He continued:

"It’s a pressing issue that needs to be dealt with carefully, or else we won’t be able to play with a full-strength team.”

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“There should be a rule” – Saba Karim on fitness standards for Rohit Sharma and Co.

Karim feels that the BCCI should adopt a new rule to ensure injured players play enough domestic games after attaining full fitness to earn a recall to the national team.

He said:

“In international matches, you are under pressure. There should be a rule that once NCA declares you match-fit, you must play X number of domestic games to get back in the team.”

The development comes after Rohit Sharma expressed frustration with India’s increasing number of injured players. He was quoted as saying by ESPNCricinfo:

“There are definitely a few injury concerns. We need to try and get to the bottom of it.”

Sharma added:

"We have to sit with our team back home at the NCA as well and try and monitor their workload. That is something we need to look at. We cannot afford guys coming in here half-fit and representing the country.”

Interestingly, Rohit Sharma, Chahar, and Kuldeep Sen (back stiffness) have been ruled out of the third ODI against Bangladesh due to injury.