The BCCI conducted a meeting between the NCA chief Rahul Dravid and the national selectors led by Chetan Sharma, over the injury and workload management of the players taking part in the ongoing IPL season. The franchise physios will monitor and share the details of the fitness of all the centrally contracted players.
The 2021 edition of the Indian Premier League is in full slow, and it is nearing the halfway mark. Barring Hanuma Vihari, all the centrally contracted Indian players are taking part in this T20 extravaganza, which will continue till the 30th of May.
There have been a couple of injury concerns for the Indian players, which prompted the Indian selectors and the NCA heads to monitor the injuries and fitness of the Indian cricketers.
Mumbai Indians skipper had a slight hamstring niggle a week ago, but it wasn’t serious. Bhuvneshwar Kumar seems to have a thigh niggle which has seen him miss a couple of games for the Sunrisers Hyderabad. Meanwhile, T Natarajan played just two games this season before being ruled out of the entire tournament due to a knee injury and added to SRH’s injury woes. The left-arm fast bowler who made his debut in all three formats in Australia in the 2020-21 season underwent a successful knee surgery a few days back.
Thus, it was Natarajan’s injury that prompted the selectors and the NCA chief Rahul Dravid to monitor the fitness and workload of the players during the IPL. The Chetan Sharma-led selection panel and Dravid convened for a meeting facilitated by the BCCI and monitored the players’ fitness.
Cricbuzz sources claim that the physios of the IPL franchises have been informed to share the fitness and injury details of the centrally contracted players. Moreover, they have been asked to maintain a dairy for each of the players, and that needs to be shared with the NCA on a regular basis.
The brainstorming session between the selectors and Dravid also led to them coming to a conclusion that there will be a pool of players who can walk into the NCA for rehab and recovery at any stage.
Thus, the selectors then picked a pool of 55 players, including the 33 centrally contracted cricketers and those players who will not have to go through the BCCI or the state associations.
In addition to this, the selection panel also submitted a list of around 35 players who are in contention to fly to the United Kingdom for the World Test Championship final in June and then the five-match Test series against England, which will take place in August-September. This list will be cut down, and the final squad will have around 22 to 24 players.
However, it is understood by Cricbuzz that there is no date announced or decided when the selection committee will convene to finalise the squad that will travel to England. However, the BCCI logistics team has already obtained the visa forms which the players and the support staff have filled.
Moreover, it is also understood that Priyank Panchal has flown to England as he had complications with his knee, and he is undergoing treatment in England. The right-handed Gujarat opener was in the Indian reserves in the Test series against England at home back in February and March earlier this year.
