Virat Kohli’s statement on Rohit Sharma’s fitness defines massive confusion

Virat Kohli has expressed his dissatisfaction with the BCCI on how the Rohit Sharma injury situation was managed. Before the start of the first ODI against Australia in Sydney, a visibly unhappy Virat Kohli told in the virtual press conference that there was total confusion regarding the situation with Rohit Sharma. “Before we had the selection meeting in Dubai, we had got an email two days before that, which said that he is unavailable for selection as he has picked an injury during the IPL. It mentioned there was a two-week rest and rehab period. The pros and cons and the implications of the injury has been explained to him and he understood that. And he was unavailable for selection. That was the information we got on mail before the selection meeting. After that he played in the IPL, so we all thought he would be on that flight to Australia, which he wasn't. And we had no information whatsoever on the reason on why he is not traveling with us,” Virat Kohli said.

For the first time, the Indian cricket team skipper was visibly unhappy with the way how the situation has been handled, adding that there was no clarity and plenty of confusion. Indeed, if one looks at the BCCI and the issue of ‘communication’ when it comes to the Rohit Sharma injury, then it has been nothing short of a disaster.

When it comes to the micro-managing of players and their fitness, the BCCI need to look only at England and Australia to see how their boards manage player fitness. When Pat Cummins suffered another recurrence of a back stress fracture in 2012 while playing for the Sydney Sixers in the Champions League T20, the franchise got a massive rebuke from Cricket Australia that they had hidden his injury. When it comes to England’s players, their regime of monitoring is top notch. In the case of the BCCI, it seems to have gone missing.

More twists and turns

How can one justify the BCCI’s muddled approach to Rohit Sharma’s injury? Rohit Sharma gets injured during the double super-over epic against Kings XI Punjab and does not play a couple of games. The BCCI issues a press release stating that his progress is being monitored. When the BCCI announce the squad for all three formats, Rohit Sharma’s name goes missing.

This is where the confusion begins. On the same day the squad is announced, Mumbai Indians upload a video where he is training. When Sourav Ganguly, the BCCI president, states that Rohit Sharma’s injury needed to be managed, he plays the playoffs for Mumbai Indians and helps them win the IPL title for the fifth time.

Dual set of rules?

The other major argument is why Rohit Sharma could not do his rehabilitation with the Indian cricket team in Australia? That is because of the injury protocol designed by the BCCI. In case of injury, the players will have to recuperate at the NCA. If the NCA gives them the all-clear, then the player is deemed fit for selection. However, even here, the BCCI was reportedly not up to the mark. The case in point being Wriddhiman Saha.

Wriddhiman Saha suffered a hamstring injury for Sunrisers Hyderabad but the BCCI physio gave the all-clear that Saha would recuperate with the Indian cricket team in Australia and recover in time for the Tests. Why was the case so different with Rohit Sharma? Apparently, in an interview to PTI, Rohit said that he did not want to leave any stone unturned in proving he was match-fit. Once again, same injury but different approaches by the BCCI and their medical team.

The logistical problems for Rohit Sharma will only get compounded from here. International travel remains suspended from India until December 31. The final decision on Rohit Sharma will be on December 11. There are reports that Sourav Ganguly, the BCCI president, is negotiating for a reduced quarantine period for Rohit. However, India coach Ravi Shastri said that if Rohit had to make it to the Tests, he had to board the flight to Australia in 3-4 days. And this was said on November 22.

Rohit Sharma will have to undergo the mandatory 14-day isolated quarantine because he is not coming from a bio-bubble, unlike the rest of the Indian cricket team who came to Sydney from the bio-bubble in Australia. The entire episode has been a case study of shoddy miscommunication by the BCCI. One hopes that there is no repetition as Rohit Sharma’s absence for the limited overs series is a major blow for India.