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Asia Cup 2018: India's list of walking wounded grows; calls for better injury management

Hardik Pandya, Shardul Thakur and Axar Patel out of Asia Cup 2018 with injuries and it calls for a better injury management system

Hardik Pandya is the latest entrant in the list of injured players

Bengaluru, September 20: The day started with the news of Hardik Pandya getting ruled out of the Asia Cup 2018 with a back injury. But by the time a BCCI mail landed in the inbox the number has increased to three with Shardul Thakur (groin/hip) and Axar Patel (left index finger) joining the list.

Along the way, the mail, not in as many words, highlighted the need for powers that be to put in place a transparent system to preserve the best players and manage injuries better.

ALSO READ: PANDYA, THAKUR, PATEL RULED OUT OF ASIA CUPALSO READ: PANDYA, THAKUR, PATEL RULED OUT OF ASIA CUP

But the news was just a continuation in a vicious sequence that saw some frontline Indian players getting gripped by injuries of various nature before and during the tour of England in which India suffered a 1-4 reverse. (See the InfoGFX below).

A look at the list of injured Indian players

It started with India skipper Virat Kohli. Kohli had signed up with English county Surrey to prepare for the tour of England and he had even decided to skip the historic one-off Test against Afghanistan in Bengaluru in June. But back spasms ensured that Kohli would miss the Surrey stint.

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After intense rehabilitation, Kohli got himself ready for the England series but the back spasms returned to haunt him during the second Test at Lords. He was struggling to move while on the field and batting in the second innings, raising concern over his availability for the Nottingham Test. But the five-day gap between the second and third Test was enough for Kohli to recover and play the remainder of the series. Subsequently, he was rested for the Asia Cup 2018.

https://www.mykhel.com/cricket/asia-cup-2018-injured-hardik-pandya-shardul-thakur-axar-patel-to-miss-the-tournament-099446.html?ref=hf

Off-spinner R Ashwin showed signs of breaking down the in the third Test at Trent Bridge that India won. In the first innings, he bowled just one over and send down 22.5 overs in the second for a wicket. Though he was cleared for the fourth Test at Southampton, Ashwin was a pale shadow of himself.

The Tamil Nadu offie failed to bring his A game because he was not able to bring his hip and body into play, failing even to land the ball on the rough. At the same time, his England counterpart Moeen Ali walked away with a match-winning nine wicket haul. On hindsight, it was better to rest a half-fit Ashwin and give chance to Ravindra Jadeja, who gave a good account of himself in the fifth Test at the Oval. But the management overlooked his obvious injury - perhaps wanting their premier bowler in a must-win match.

In the case of Bhuvneshwar Kumar, the team management decided to risk him in the must-win third ODI against England and they missed trees for the woods. Bhuvneshwar played the match with a back injury and missed the entire Test series against England. In fact, he was cleared the yo yo test ahead of the ODI series and aggravated the injury during the limited over series. Overall, it was gross mismanagement of a player who was carrying an injury.

Now, we can add Jasprit Bumrah, who suffered a thumb injury in the T20I series against Ireland and missed the first Test, and Wriddhiman Saha to the list and the picture gets uglier.

Saha's case was staggering. After undergoing MRI for a labral tear (shoulder injury) after the tour of South Africa, Saha was allowed to play in IPL 2018. In an ideal world, Saha should have been pulled out of the IPL to get him fit for the tour of England. In the IPL, he suffered a minor thumb injury which was initially projected as the reason for him to miss the England trip.

But later it was clarified that Saha missed the tour of England indeed due to the shoulder injury which came to light first in South Africa. How did the selection committee miss such a major point?

Of course, the players will try to appear in many matches as possible but the team management and selectors should have a clear vision about injury management. Even the slightest carelessness can have fatal effect on a player's career for which he has made countless sacrifices.

Story first published: Thursday, September 20, 2018, 20:11 [IST]
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