“We were very strict during Virat Kohli and Ravi Shastri’s time”

Former Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) batter Wasim Jaffer made a blunt remark on recurring injuries to Indian players ahead of the Sri Lanka Tests. India will play a two-match Test series in Sri Lanka beginning August 15.

Several key players like Hardik Pandya, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Varun Chakaravarthy, and Harshit Rana, among many others, have been injured often, in and out of the team. Most recently, ace pacer Jasprit Bumrah and batter Sai Sudharsan were ruled out of the Sri Lanka series.

The former RCB batter reckoned that the management should get stricter with fitness tests and the process. He recalled how things were quite strict while Virat Kohli was the captain and Ravi Shastri was the head coach, and how the fitness levels of players were at the top. Jaffer highlighted the need to go back to being just as strict.

“I feel we need to be a little stricter with the physical tests that we have. We were very strict during Virat Kohli and Ravi Shastri’s time. I feel we need to get back to that. It is necessary to be more strict, I feel. We were at our fittest at that time. Our fast bowlers were playing continuously at that time. If anyone failed the fitness test, they were not picked. Players were keeping themselves very fit. It was criticised for being too strict, but a lot depends on fitness, so we need to get back to that with such high demands and to stay at the top as a team,” he said in a video on his YouTube channel.

With concerns rising about a long list of players getting injured, BCCI Centre of Excellence (COE) head VVS Laxman strongly defended the facility’s injury-management and selection protocols during a recent press conference in Bengaluru. The former RCB batter also backed Laxman, while briefly touching upon how things work at the COE.

“The players who want some practice come there. There is also a list of contracted players who keep coming to the COE. They have to take fitness tests regularly, they are checked to see if they are in the right shape or not. Even other targeted players are called again and again. The players who are injured do their rehab process and recovery. Laxman is doing a great job. I have seen him closely. He is very sincere about his work, and his communication is great, be it with coaches or selectors. I don’t think he is falling short in any department,” the former RCB batter expressed.

Notably, the former RCB and India cricketer served as one of the official coaches for the inaugural Emerging Men’s Tournament held at the BCCI COE.

Former RCB batter on IPL franchises allegedly forcing players to play despite injury

Recently, a shocking report emerged that IPL franchises forced players to play even through injuries due to the heavy investment involved. An anonymous BCCI COE source raised the concern (via ANI).

On the same, former RCB batter Wasim Jaffer had a surprisingly different take. He reckoned that the franchises were within their rights to expect players to be available throughout, given the big investments. However, he also added that if a player was unfit, he would never actually be pushed to keep playing.

“I think the amount of money franchises spend on their players and on the tournament, they have the right. They also have their demands that players are available and the franchise does well. And when good players play, only then do their chances of winning increase. So they have a fair right to push the players. Somewhere they don’t have so much to do with how the player will do when he plays for India or whatever. They have their own personal right to want the player to be available if they have spent crores. If a player does not come or pulls out, all the combinations and plans are spoilt. As long as the trainers and physios declare players fit, they have the right. It will never happen that a player is unfit and he will be pushed to keep playing,” he explained.

Further, the former RCB batter reckoned that even in the Indian team, players would play despite carrying small niggles. He highlighted that no player would be completely fit while playing throughout the year. While he believed that injuries could aggravate playing continuously, he once again stressed that franchises had the right to get the best out of their players with the amount of money at stake.