India is without a doubt one of the strong favorites for the T20 World Cup, but Rohit Sharma and the company are also aware of a few obstacles they must overcome. One is the absence of Jasprit Bumrah, India’s top pacer, from their bowling assault. Given how frequently India’s pacers have recently leaked runs, his absence is expected to be deeply felt. In particular, during death overs, the trio of Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Arshdeep Singh, and Harshal Patel has struggled to keep the opposition quiet. In addition, the name of Bumrah’s replacement is still unknown, leaving the Indian bowling unit in serious doubt.
The second and most crucial aspect is the unwelcome history of injuries among Indian athletes. Deepak Chahar’s injury-related exclusion from the T20 World Cup dealt a further blow to India, who are already without ace all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja and Bumrah. The 30-year-old Chahar had previously missed several months of action due to a back injury earlier in the year, so this is his second occurrence. Chahar’s last-minute injury has only made matters worse for the selectors as India was looking for a reliable replacement for Bumrah.
When commenting on the recent wave of injuries, former India head coach Ravi Shastri says the issue needs rapid treatment but that he is unable to comprehend it.
During the ‘meet-the-media’ event former coach Ravi Shastri told journalist Ayaz Menon, “It was the most frustrating thing for me as (India coach) when you lose key players to injuries. We toured England and New Zealand twice. On all those tours, Bhuvneshwar Kumar was injured, where he’d have got a bagful of wickets with his skills. Now, you see Chahar has hardly played, and he’s injured. I was looking at the stats, Bumrah has played 5 matches since the last T20 World Cup and he’s injured. So, you’ve got to look at it very seriously, as to why it is happening.”
Shastri advised management and coaches to be conscious of the players’ workload management and pushed them to make the difficult decision when necessary, even though there is no established pattern to limit the number of injuries. Players will eventually lose it when they are playing cricket nonstop, including numerous foreign trips and assignments in addition to the IPL. Shastri believes that players should not be afraid to limit their IPL presence if it conflicts with their international obligations.
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He added, “With the volume of cricket that exists today, it’s extremely important that you get the balance right of how much a player plays. When should he be rested? And there, a (BCCI) president can play a big role. Tomorrow, if a cricketer, for the sake of playing for India, needs to be rested in the IPL for a certain number of games, so be it. Where, a (BCCI) president has to sit with the franchise and explain that he’s extremely important for India first, and then the franchise.”
