BCCI FINALLY takes action over 'dip in fitness standards'; questions physio over THIS thing

Jasprit Bumrah’s injury made BCCI address fitness standards.

Indian Cricket Team are currently focusing on the upcoming two-match Test series against Sri Lanka, where Shubman Gill will be leading the side in an important assignment. This series carries extra importance as India look to stay in the race for the ICC World Test Championship (WTC) 2025-27 Final.

However, just ahead of the series, India suffered a major setback as Jasprit Bumrah was ruled out due to a knee injury. Not only this, several other players are also at the BCCI Centre of Excellence (CoE) for rehabilitation over the past few months.  

In recent weeks, a lot of injuries have happened to the Indian core team. Nitish Kumar Reddy, Harshit Rana, Washington Sundar and Sai Sudharsan have all dealt with fitness concerns, forcing the selectors to make multiple changes before the Sri Lanka tour.

Now, a new report has revealed that the BCCI is taking a closer look at Team India‘s overall fitness standards. According to the Times of India, the board is planning changes to its fitness programme after concerns over repeated injuries and declining fitness levels among players.

BCCI questions Team India physio over fitness standards

According to the report, Team India physio Kamlesh Jain was questioned by both the team management and the BCCI regarding the growing number of injuries and the overall decline in the fitness of players.

The report also claimed that the management is unhappy with frequent injuries happening among players and even noticed players struggling with mobility during the England tour. Some Senior batters reportedly found it difficult to run between the wickets after spending a long time at the crease, while the number of slower fielders had also increased in the team.

“Kamlesh has been told that he shouldn’t worry about any player’s stature and flag anything that he doesn’t find satisfactory. It has been seen that the mobility of some of the players in the field has been questionable. Senior batters are struggling to push their running between the wickets as they bat longer. The number of slow fielders has increased,” the source said.

BCCI to introduce standard fitness benchmarks

CoE is now planning to standardise the fitness process. As per the reports, players may now need to complete the Bronco Test in 5.15 to 5.20 minutes while the 2 km running test is expected to have a target time of 9 to 10 minutes for fitness clearance.

“The Indian players are not used to the Bronco test. Over the last year, the CoE had set different base parameters for players. It has now emerged that certain senior players were given much comfortable targets to meet to clear fitness tests. The CoE staff had also cleared players like Harshit Rana and Nitish Kumar Reddy to make sure it was delivering players according to team management’s needs,”

With India entering an important phase of the ICC WTC cycle, better fitness management will help to improve the overall on-field performances of the team. The tight schedule and lot of tournaments often lead to injury amongst the players; therefore, improving the system will help these players to manage their workload and fitness properly and effectively.

For more updates, follow Khel Now Cricket on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Youtube; download the Khel Now Android App or IOS App and join our community on Whatsapp & Telegram.