Need proper explanation from NCA on Bhuvneshwar Kumar’s injury, says top BCCI official
A top BCCI official has demanded a proper explanation from the National Cricket Academy (NCA) in Bengaluru on the details of Bhuvneshwar Kumar’s injury and recovery schedule. Although not made official by the BCCI, it is understood that Bhuvi is nursing a hamstring and side strain.
Bhuvneshwar Kumar is a vital cog in India's pace wheel, particularly in the limited-overs format of the game, but he has been out of action since coming back from the ODI series in the West Indies in August. Since then, the fast bowler has been undergoing strength and conditioning programmes at the NCA and missed the entirety of the South Africa series. Now as the Men in Blue prepare to take on neighbours Bangladesh in a three-match T20I series, the selection committee simply said that he is unavailable.
“If Bhuvneshwar’s injury is not as serious, they must come up with a clear explanation as to why it is taking him so long to get back on the field,“ the official told TOI.Â
According to TOI’s report, Bhuvi has been carrying the injury since the conclusion of the England tour and his appearances for Team India has been sporadic since. Ashish Kaushik, the physio at the national academy, offered no response on the matter when probed.
“He was not treated properly. His injury was allowed to aggravate because the team wanted to take him to the World Cup. He is still one of the first choices for white-ball cricket but he needs to get back onto the field before building up for next year’s T20 World Cup,” a source said.
Recently, the NCA had come under severe criticism for their handling of the injuries to wicketkeeper Wriddhiman Saha, star player Jasprit Bumrah, and the Prithvi Shaw case after the young cricketer tested positive for dope.
“It’s becoming a trend now at the NCA. As it is, the institution is fighting a label of just being a rehab centre and these cases keep coming up. Saha lost a good year and half of his career. The board announced that Jasprit Bumrah and Hardik Pandya needed to travel to England. Bumrah didn’t even need surgery,” the official said.
Meanwhile, BCCI president Sourav Ganguly is scheduled to meet the NCA team, led by director Rahul Dravid, to take stock of several things. It is learnt that the new BCCI regiment has been updated about the allegations against NCA of having a biased stance in hiring staff at the academy.
“The process to hire S&C (strength and conditioning) coaches and physios were rushed after multiple changes in the eligibility criteria even as the board was going to elections and Dravid was about to take charge as the director,” the official added.