India skipper Rohit Sharma expressed his frustration over players getting injured repeatedly in recent times despite passing fitness tests. India have been plagued with injuries throughout the year, with Jasprit Bumrah and Ravindra Jadeja being the most notable absentees during their T20 World Cup 2022 campaign in Australia, wherein they finished semi-finalists.
Bumrah suffered a back injury and played two T20Is against Australia at home in build-up to the T20 World Cup upon a brief return and subsequently missed out due to a stress reaction in his back. The speedster hasn’t played any competitive cricket since, and there is no certainty with regards to his recovery time.
Deepak Chahar and Washington Sundar, who are currently a part of the Bangladesh tour, were two of the numerous players to have spent extensive periods in rehab at the National Cricket Academy in Bengaluru.
“I mean there are definitely a few injury concerns. We need to try and get to the bottom of it. I don’t know what exactly it is. Maybe they’re playing too much cricket. We need to try and monitor those guys, because it’s important to understand when they come for India, they need to be a 100%, in fact more than 100%.
“It’s something we have to look at. 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 can’t afford guys coming in here half-fit and representing the country.
There’s huge pride and honour in representing the country and if they’re not fit enough, it’s not ideal. Having said that, we just need to get to the bottom of it and find out what exactly is the reason behind this,”
Rohit said after the second ODI against Bangladesh.
The captain himself suffered a thumb injury early into the second of three ODIs in Dhaka on Wednesday and had been taken to a hospital. The subsequent X-ray reports confirmed no fracture, as he would himself confirm later. With stitches on his thumb, he scored a heroic 51* off 28 from No.9, and took India within striking distance from a tough position before the hosts edged past by five runs.
Sharma has already been ruled out of the third ODI in Chattogram on Saturday, there is no clarity as yet on his availability for the two-match Test series, beginning December 14.
“Rohit will certainly miss the next game, fly back to Bombay, consult with an expert and see how it is and whether he can come back for the Test matches or not. I’m not sure. It’s too soon to say that (he’ll be fit for the Tests or not).
“I think for him to show that level of courage, he had a serious dislocation, he had to go to hospital to get that set right, stitches in his hand, a couple of injections to go out and bat.
Credit to him, he was really determined to go out and have a go and take a chance and it’s amazing how close he got us with that innings, it was an absolutely phenomenal innings by the skipper. Great courage to be able to go out there and give us a chance. Unfortunately, in the end we couldn’t get over the line,”
head coach Rahul Dravid said after the second game of the series.
