Five key T20 players carried injuries: Report

BCCI calls physios verdict routine analysis, minor in nature

The team physio Nitin Patel had cast a doubt at the fitness levels of as many as five key players in his report to the BCCI before the tournament but all of them were included in the squad. According to reports, the physio’s report had mentioned that captain Dhoni, Virender Sehwag, Yuvraj Singh, RP Singh and Zaheer Khan had injuries which needed treatment.

But despite getting the report before the selection committee meeting, the BCCI decided to select the players in the squad hoping that they would regain full fitness by the time the tournament got under way in England. The BCCI sought to downplay the physio’s report and said it was a ‘routine report’ and the injuries sustained by the players were too minor in nature to warrant omission from the team.

“It is a routine report which is given before every tour to assess the fitness of the players. Too much importance should not be attached to the report, After getting the physio’s report, the selectors pick players. Sometimes there are only minor injuries and you can not rule out players for whole tour,” BCCI’s Media and Finance Committee chairman Rajiv Shukla said.

“Those injuries are supposed to heal in three four days, so you cannot rule out players for the whole tour. These are routine reports and not much importance should be attached to these,” he said.

The physio’s report had mentioned that Dhoni had a back injury and paceman RP Singh had a niggle in his ankle. Sehwag, Yuvraj and Zaheer had shoulder niggles. While only Sehwag was withdrawn midway through the high profile tournament and replaced with wicketkeeper-batsman Dinesh Kaarthick, all the other players were retained in the squad.

Interestingly, Dhoni himself had disclosed at a press conference after India’s defeat against South Africa in the last Super Eight match that many of his players were not 100 percent fit.

“Sure very few were 100 percent fit. Some had ankle, some shoulder injury. That’s why they were not at their best in the field. But I am not sure if fatigue is the reason for it. These days you have rehab and can quickly come back to 100 per cent fitness,” Dhoni had said after his side’s 12-run defeat at the hands of South Africa last Tuesday.

Sehwag may miss CT

Sehwag could miss the Champions Trophy beginning on September 24 as he would be out of action for 12-16 weeks following surgery on his shoulder.

Sehwag went under the knife on June 11 and will be under the observation of physio Patel during his stint at the National Cricket Academy in Bangalore.

Sehwag’s shoulder will be evaluated 10 weeks after the operation to check whether he can throw a ball, according to a website. Sehwag sustained the injury during Delhi Daredevil’s IPL semifinal against Deccan Chargers on May 21.