With World Twenty20 around the corner, the Indian board is keeping a close watch on the fitness of the players selected for the tournament. The franchisees have been asked to provide regular updates on the fitness and injuries to the players for the upcoming tournament. So if you are wondering why Zaheer Khan or a Virender Sehwag did not take the field on Friday, it is not necessarily because they are not fit for the game but could be because they are told not to risk or aggravate injuries.
Nitin Patel, the physio of the Indian team, currently in South Africa as a physio for the Mumbai Indians side, has been asked to coordinate with his counterparts in the other seven IPL teams. He has also been asked to apprise the Board secretary of players’ fitness on a daily basis.
“He has been sending regular updates to the secretary. There is no worry on this count,” said Ratnakar Shetty. “Besides there is a lot of time left for the T20 tournament. We don’t see any problem. There are a few niggles to a few players. There is no serious injury to anyone,” said the chief administrative officer of the Board of Control for Cricket in India.
Zaheer injured his bowling shoulder last week and has not played for Mumbai since. Virender Sehwag has suffered an injury to his ring finger and has skipped three games.
Franchisee sources say the injuries are not serious, yet they don’t want to take chances with their fitness. “Viru can play at any time. We don’t want to take a chance,” said a Delhi Daredevils official.
Mumbai Indians too say the same of Zaheer although there are reports that the India spearhead’s injury is quite serious. “It is not at all serious. He will be part of the tournament at some stage surely,” said an MI official.
There are also reported worries for Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Yuvraj Singh.
But secretary N Srinivasan has rubbished the reports. “When we have selected a team for the World T20, it is incumbent on our part to ensure their fitness. There are no worries on this front. We are monitoring the situation regularly,” he said.
Meanwhile, the BCCI has appointed Andhra Cricket Association secretary V Chamundeswaranath as the manager for the World T20. The assistant manager for the tour will be Anirudh Chaudhary, secretary of the Haryana Cricket Association. The team will leave for England on May 29.
