Rohit Sharma comments reopen fitness debate

CHENNAI: As India skipper Rohit Sharma, with a taped thumb, fought till the last ball of the second ODI against Bangladesh, praises were coming in for him from all centres. To come in at No 9, knowing full well about his injury, the praises were well deserved.

However, amid all the consolation comments directed towards him, Rohit did not fail to see the most important issue that has cost this Indian team. "Can't afford to have half-fit players representing India," he said after the match, before adding, "(there are) few injury concerns and we need to get to the bottom of it; maybe they're playing too much cricket. It's something we have to sit down with our team at NCA and try to monitor their workload."

Although Rohit returned home, missing the rest of the tour, his argument seeks attention. For it is not just him. Deepak Chahar also walked off the field due to a similar injury he suffered last year after bowling just three overs. Kuldeep Sen, the debutant from the first match, too, was ruled out of the second game due to injury. Even before the series began, they had to replace as many as three injured players — Yash Dayal, Ravindra Jadeja and Mohammed Shami.

This is why, even as the BCCI are contemplating to meet and review the Indian team’s poor performances at the T20 World Cup and ODI-leg of the Bangladesh series after the tour, the international schedule that was announced on Thursday raised a lot of eyebrows. Starting January 3rd, India will play four Tests, nine ODIs and six T20Is at home. It comes to 35 playing days across 17 cities in 79 days. It is likely the IPL will begin less than a week after the internationals come to an end.

While it is true that the tenure of head coach Rahul Dravid and Rohit Sharma haven't reaped the results as expected so far, the hectic schedule they have across formats is a problem for both the team management as well as the cricket body. They will be playing Sri Lanka for the second time in less than 12 months and New Zealand in less than 60 days after the inconsequential white-ball series immediately after the World Cup. Since the pandemic broke, India have handed debuts to as many as 30 players, highest for any team. They have also fielded eight captains across formats. Although it could be attributed to workload management, quite a few have been related to injuries. The selections have been debatable too. Some poor calls, along with the bad performances, meant a new selection committee is expected to be in place before the end of this month. But that may not be the end of it.

As the BCCI gets together to review the performances, they might have to take a hard look at the roles and responsibilities with the team, schedule, injuries, player management and selections — all with a long-term plan in place. In a year where there is a home ODI World Cup and the prospect of another World Test Championship final, they might have to compartmentalise the goals and personnel with clear objectives. For despite all the riches, popularity and the superstars, Indian cricket have very little world dominance to show, especially in white-ball cricket. There needs to be clarity across the board if they are to have a smooth transition over the next 18 months or so either side of the World Cup.