National Cricket Academy To Cricket of Excellence, It Still Remains A Hospital!

More than a decade ago, the BCCI’s National Cricket Academy (NCA) was described as a glorified hospital by its chairman Ranjib Biswal. A former India under-19 captain and representative of the Odisha Cricket Association (OCA), Biswal’s remarks on the NCA were marked by candour. He did not mince words, saying that the contracted players go to the NCA for treatment of injuries rather than to sharpen their skills. Nothing much appears to have changed at the renamed Cricket of Excellence (CoE), the BCCI’s upgraded facility in Bengaluru. Virtually every Indian player has spent time rehabilitating and recovering at the CoE; in recent times, the list of India players being sent to the CoE for treatment of assorted injuries — impact and recurring — and to get the return-to-play certificates has not shown the facility in good light. Players suffer injuries while in action in a match or suffer a relapse of an old injury. Recently, the national selection committee had picked fast bowler Jasprit Bumrah and left-hand bat Sai Sudharsan (subject to injury) for the two-Test series in Sri Lanka. Both have been ruled out, with Bumrah undergoing treatment to mend his landing foot knee (left) ailment and Sudharsan feeling uncomfortable with a stress fracture of his right toe. Some impact injuries take time to heal and become functional, but after the Harshit Rana case (declared fit to play in the white-ball series in England and then going down again), the medical staff at the CoE are being cautious in giving the go-ahead signal to players to play again for the team in whites and the men in blue. Pointing fingers at the CoE may not be entirely right for the long rehab and recovery time taken by players, but nonetheless it is seen as the villain!