For injured players, it is necessary to pass an NCA medical examination
From now on, the rehabilitation process of an injured cricketer will be mandatory monitored by the physiotherapists of the National Cricket Academy (NCA) in Bangalore before the player is deemed fit for selection.
The Indian Express understands that the new guideline was issued after a meeting with NCA’s Head of Cricket Rahul Dravid, BCCI secretary Jay Shah, Indian team head coach Ravi Shastri and captain Virat Kohli, was held to discuss the need to make NCA the final authority on the fitness of players.
It’s understood that the NCA was not happy with a certain player, who had initiated his rehab with his IPL physio, and then flew to Bengaluru only to clear his fitness test.
Contracted players have been informed verbally that once the injury heals, they will have to be present in NCA, where a physio will monitor their progress on a day-to-day basis.
Owing to the pandemic, if players cannot travel and want to train with their personal physio, they need to make a formal request to the BCCI and NCA.
“The players have been told that whenever they get injured, they need to inform the NCA. Once their injury has healed, the rehabilitation part will be taken care of by their physios in Bengaluru. It will also help prepare a database that will help the BCCI in the future,” a BCCI official said.
In the past, the NCA had urged the BCCI to streamline the post-injury process of players since they were not kept in the loop on how the rehab was conducted.
Indian players like Shreyas Iyer and Shubman Gill are currently at the NCA. Iyer has cleared his fitness test, while Gill is on the road to recovery from his shin injury.
