BCCI secretary Devajit Saikia will meet Head of Cricket VVS Laxman in Bengaluru on Sunday to review rehabilitation management at the Centre of Excellence, with a number of India players currently sidelined by injury. The meeting comes amid concern over the volume of players receiving treatment and rehabilitation support at the COE.
India are missing Jasprit Bumrah, B Sai Sudharsan, Harshit Rana, Nitish Kumar Reddy and Washington Sundar because of different injury issues. Akash Deep has also been out for an extended period with a lower-back stress fracture, having been unavailable since Bengal’s Ranji Trophy semi-final defeat.
Several India players remain under rehabilitation
Bumrah is dealing with knee swelling, while Sudharsan has a left big-toe injury. Harshit Rana and Nitish Kumar Reddy have hamstring issues, and Washington Sundar is recovering from a quadriceps problem. The status of these players has made rehabilitation management an immediate focus for the BCCI.
White-ball players Hardik Pandya, Varun Chakravarthy and Prince Yadav are also at the Centre of Excellence. Pandya has a quadriceps issue, while Chakravarthy and Yadav are managing hamstring injuries. The report said the Sports Science team at the COE has been overworked since the resignation of Nitin Patel in early 2025, leaving the department without a figurehead.
According to the source report, the central challenge is getting the affected players back on the field. Bumrah and Sudharsan had been included in the squad subject to fitness, but the COE’s experts chose to proceed cautiously with their recoveries while taking a longer-term view.
A BCCI source told PTI that Saikia would be in Bengaluru to assess the situation alongside Laxman. The source said a meeting between the two was scheduled, while it was not known whether India head coach Gautam Gambhir or chairman of selectors Ajit Agarkar would join remotely.
Fitness timelines under scrutiny
The report also pointed to concerns over coordination between the COE and the current selection committee on injury-management timelines and player releases. There have been suggestions that the two groups have not always been aligned on when players had completed all the required fitness checks.
Harshit Rana’s condition on reaching England was noted as an issue that had not gone down well with the selection committee. Meanwhile, the committee had initially been led to believe that Bumrah and Sudharsan could be available for at least one of two Test matches.
Bumrah’s recovery has required more time after an impact injury led to water retention in his knee. Sudharsan had reportedly been batting for 75 minutes a day, but pain in his big toe persisted. Nitish Reddy, meanwhile, strained his hamstring and quadriceps after attempting to increase his pace by seven to eight kilometres per hour.
Sunday’s review is therefore set to examine a crowded rehabilitation picture at the COE and the management of returns for key India players. With several bowlers and all-rounders among those undergoing treatment, the outcome of the discussions could be important for clarity around fitness monitoring and player availability.
