The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) held a review meeting on Thursday with several major issues concerning Indian cricket on the agenda, including the growing number of player injuries, workload management, the next Future Tour Programme (FTP), overseas preparation, the role of Centre of Excellence (CoE) head VVS Laxman and Rohit Sharma’s ODI future.
The meeting was attended by head coach Gautam Gambhir, ODI and Test captain Shubman Gill, T20I captain Shreyas Iyer and VVS Laxman. BCCI secretary Devajit Saikia later provided details of the discussions. Saikia also clarified that there was no discussion about Agarkar’s future at the meeting. We have to take into consideration that they have played two months of IPL prior to that. The board intends to build greater recovery periods into the schedule. “To avoid those kinds of situations under the present FTPs, we are trying to find some ways out. We have a protocol in place for how a player can come back to international matches after injury. We are taking feedback from the captains and head coach to chalk up a proper strategy to avoid these unwanted situations. In the next FTP, we will ensure proper rest for the players, acclimatisation, or some practice matches before any major series in SENA countries. The search for the appropriate candidate is continuing.
Because of connectivity issues, chief selector Ajit Agarkar was absent as he was out of station and could not join the meeting online. Because they have to play a lot of matches, injury Crisis Prompts FTP Rethink “Players are having injuries. The meeting therefore produced a clear message on workload management, overseas preparation and player fitness, while the BCCI also sought to put an end to speculation surrounding key administrative and senior player decisions.
If you look at their schedule, in England, we had a 15-player team that went for the ODIs, and out of that, 3 or 4 players got injured. The BCCI currently has about 16 people working across fitness and rehabilitation facilities, but Saikia said a senior specialist is required to supervise that setup.
So all this takes a toll on the health of the players,” Saikia told the reporters after review meeting. Saikia said the number of matches could also be reduced in the next cycle as part of an attempt to address the mounting injury problem.
