World Cups target, BCCI tells players to follow fitness plan during IPL too

TO AVOID untimely injury breakdown and ensure optimum fitness with two World Cups scheduled in as many years, contracted Indian cricketers will have to follow a fitness plan designed the National Cricket Academy (NCA) during the course of the IPL, which is set to begin March 26. Earlier, once players joined their IPL teams, they followed the regimen of their respective franchises.

The NCA-monitored fitness plan has been put in place after the BCCI and selectors were kept in the dark earlier about the fitness status of top cricketers during the IPL.
This season, physios and trainers of the NCA and head coach Rahul Dravid will be in touch with the country’s top cricketers to ensure they stick to the plan, with the focus on strength and conditioning. The BCCI has informed the IPL teams about the direct role the NCA will play in fitness management of players.
As the BCCI moves to a centralised system, the NCA, headed VVS Laxman, will play a more active role in scientific fitness monitoring of the cricketers who are part of the core group expected to play in the T20 World Cup later this year and the 50-over World Cup in 2023.
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BCCI Secretary Jay Shah said the objective was to have clarity on the fitness status of players and to ensure that the maximum numbers of players are fit and available for selection for international games. In the run-up to the IPL, a two-week strength and conditioning camp is being conducted at the NCA to monitor fitness of players who are not part of the Test squad playing Sri Lanka.
“For us, fitness is paramount and we want our players to be fully fit before any bilateral series or international game. We have a fitness camp at the NCA and, going ahead, similar camps will be held. The goal is to have everyone on the same page when it comes to following the fitness plan set the BCCI,” Shah told The Indian Express.
Two years ago, Mumbai Indians captain Rohit Sharma was rested for the T20 Internationals and ODIs in Australia because of a hamstring injury but played the IPL final a day after the Indian team was selected. The selectors also felt that there was lack of clarity on Hardik Pandya’s fitness status after his back surgery, which limited his bowling ability during this year’s T20 World Cup in the UAE.

However, players have been informed that the current fitness plan for the IPL is not set in stone and that they have the option of getting back to the NCA if it is too taxing.
“Coach Dravid said that you play 10 months for India and only two months for IPL. He told us to trust the support staff and NCA when it comes to fitness. A few players did express their concern about how IPL team physios and trainers would react. But we have been told to leave such issues to the BCCI. Players can also inform the NCA or the Indian team management if the training plan of the NCA is too difficult to follow during the IPL,” said a cricketer.