India skipper Rohit Sharma has admitted that fitness woes have been a significant concern for the team after a 2-1 series loss to Australia in Chennai on Wednesday. The team’s growing injury list is “concerning”, but Rohit Sharma doubts any player will choose not to play the IPL games to manage his workload when the T20 tournament starts on March 31.
From Jasprit Bumrah to Shreyas Iyer, there are several injured national team players. Sharma said the onus is on the IPL franchise owners & players to manage their workload ahead of the ODI World Cup that India is hosting in October and November.
“It is concerning. We are missing the players who are the playing XI players,” Sharma said after India lost the 3rd ODI against Australia by 21 runs on March 22 to lose the series by 1-2.
“They are all adults. So they have to take care of their body, and if they think it’s getting a little too much for them, they can always talk about it & have a break in one or two games. I doubt that will happen, but..” the captain said without completing words.
Following the IPL, which will end on May 28, the Indian players will get over a week to prepare for the World Test Championships final at the Oval in London from June 7. Rohit Sharma said the Indian team management has given “indications” to the IPL franchises about the workload management of all the players, keeping the 50-over showpiece in mind.
Iyer, the skipper of Kolkata Knight Riders, will likely miss some matches of the IPL due to the recurring injury.
“Injuries will happen when you play so much cricket. So not looking too much into it … whatever is available to you, what is in your hand, you can always control that, and we are just trying to manage all of that,” he said.
“Players are frustrated as too. They want to play, and they do not want to miss out. So it’s a little sad, but you cannot do too much at the end of the day.”
Rohit Sharma on support staff
“I can see that the people working behind the scenes are working too hard with all these players, and injury can happen at any time like Shreyas was an example.
“He was sitting for the whole day, and he just went to take one knock, and the injury happened to him. And there is nothing that you can even do about it. We can only remember managing players & giving them sufficient breaks. And I think from our side, we are doing that.”
Moreover, with two months of IPL to be followed by the World Test Championship Final in June, more players may get injured. After the match, Rohit Sharma stated in the press conference that the guidelines had been shared with all IPL franchises, but it is up to them and the players to follow it or not.
