Overview
- BCCI secretary Devajit Saikia travelled to the Centre of Excellence in Bengaluru and met CoE head VVS Laxman on Sunday to take stock of injury management and recovery protocols.
- Several frontline players have been confirmed unavailable for the two-Test tour, including Jasprit Bumrah, B Sai Sudharsan, Harshit Rana, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Washington Sundar and Akash Deep.
- Sai Sudharsan was formally ruled out with a toe stress fracture and the selection panel is considering replacements with names reported including Sarfaraz Khan, Shaik Rasheed and Ruturaj Gaikwad; some BCCI sources have indicated Sarfaraz is likely to be chosen.
- Laxman defended the CoE’s wider role beyond rehabilitation, explained the fitness-clearance process for players picked ‘subject to fitness’, and acknowledged the sports science head position has been vacant since early 2025 with interim arrangements in place.
- The cluster of injuries has prompted a board-level review of communication and monitoring between the CoE and selectors and could force short-term selection changes that affect India’s World Test Championship campaign while highlighting broader workload and recovery concerns for players.