"Not a specialist to tell you why recurring injuries are happening" - Rohit Sharma admits fitness woes a concern

Team India captain Rohit Sharma has admitted that frequent injuries to players is a matter of concern. He pointed out that most of the cricketers who are out of action are a regular part of the playing XI.

The Men in Blue have missed the services of lead pacer Jasprit Bumrah due to a back injury in the last few months. Bumrah last turned out for India in September 2022. As per the latest reports, batter Shreyas Iyer is also likely to be out of action for the next four to five months as he is set to undergo back surgery.

At a press conference following India’s 1-2 series loss to Australia in the ODI series, Rohit was asked about the team’s injury and fitness concerns. He said:

“It is concerning. We are missing the players who are actually the playing XI players. Honestly, everyone’s trying their best to get everyone on the park. We’ve been focusing a lot on management of the players, which is why we have to rest certain players at certain point of time.

“From our side, we could do our best in terms of handling them." Rohit continued, "But, I am not a specialist to tell you why recurring injuries are happening. The medical team of ours is looking into all of this and making sure that, come the World Cup, we’ve got our best 15 players ready.”

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Rohit added that given the amount of cricket India play, injuries are bound to happen. Stating that the issue is something beyond their control, he commented:

“Not looking too much into it. What’s in your hands, you can control that and we are just trying to control all of that. Players are frustrated as well. They want to play; they don’t want to miss out. It’s a little sad, but at the end of the day you cannot really do too much.

“Freakish injuries can happen at any point of time. Shreyas was sitting the whole day. He just went to take a knock and the injury happened.”

After missing the white-ball series against New Zealand at the start of the year, Shreyas was also ruled out of the first Test against Australia in Nagpur. He played the next three Tests, but did not bat in the final match in Ahmedabad due to a recurrence of his back issue.

“It’s all up to the franchises now” - Rohit Sharma on workload management during IPL

With the ODI World Cup to be held in October-November, India will be hoping for all their players to be fit. Most cricketers will be part of the upcoming Indian Premier League (IPL).

Asked if any player management policy will be in place during the T20 league, Rohit responded:

“It’s all up to the franchises now. Franchises own them now. We’ve given some indication or some kind of borderline kind of a thing to some of the teams. But, at the end of the day, it’s up to the franchises. Most importantly, it’s the players. They have to take care of their own body. They are all adults.