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Roger Binny for better injury management; BCCI to back Barclay as ICC chief
The incoming cricket board president is also open to holding discussions on fielding separate teams across formats to reduce player workload
New BCCI president Roger Binny acknowledged the need to course correct on India’s fitness management protocols. Expressing concern over the growing list of injured players, he said on Tuesday soon after taking over that better management of player workloads are among his immediate priorities.
“As BCCI president, I want to primarily focus on prevention of injuries to the players. Jasprit Bumrah got injured just before the World Cup, which affects the whole plan,” Binny said. “We have to sit down and discuss what's going wrong. We have excellent trainers, physios and other experts. We need to talk to them, figure out why so many players are getting injured.”
Bumrah was ruled out of the T20 World Cup after his comeback from a back injury backfired. The pace spearhead, after nine weeks out, was declared fit to play the home limited-overs series against Australia, but complained of stress reaction to his back after bowling just six overs.
Fellow pacer Deepak Chahar, who was to travel to Australia as a reserve, broke down with a bad back, having recovered from the same injury after rehab at the National Cricket Academy. All-rounder Ravindra Jadeja is said to have suffered a freak right knee injury that has put him out of the tournament.
Former India head coach Ravi Shastri had recently urged intervention.
“With the volume of cricket that exists today, it's extremely important that you get the balance right on how much a player plays. When should he be rested? And there a (BCCI) president can play a big role,” Shastri said. “Tomorrow, if a cricketer, for the sake of playing for India, needs to be rested in IPL for a certain number of games, so be it. Where, a (BCCI) president has to sit with the franchise and explain that he's extremely important for India first, and then the franchise.”
Binny is also open to discussions on separate teams across formats, to reduce player workload.
The 1983 World Cup winner gave improving pitch quality as his other priority. “There needs to be more life in the wickets at home so that our teams would not have the problem of adjusting when travelling abroad,” he said.
India’s challenges on bouncy pitches have been addressed through improved planning and match practice ahead of overseas tours. Whether Binny wanted bouncier tracks in domestic or international cricket was not clear. Binny’s interactions with head coach Rahul Dravid should firm up how they structure the future roadmap.
With the World Test Championship structured the way it is, teams rely heavily on earning maximum points at home by playing on pitches tailored to suit their needs. India may opt for turning tracks to blank Australia at home next year to stay in contention for the final.
BCCI to back Barclay
Binny was backed by outgoing president Sourav Ganguly. “I wish Roger all the best. BCCI is in great hands,” Ganguly said.
But there was no cheer for Ganguly, who attended the BCCI AGM as Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB) representative. BCCI is learnt to have decided not to put up a candidate for the International Cricket Council (ICC) chair and instead backing the candidature of current chairman Greg Barclay. BCCI officials are happy with the New Zealander, who has not put any roadblocks on BCCI’s plans to create a window for IPL.
BCCI formally approved plans to launch the women's IPL next year, tenders for which will be floated soon inviting ownership interest and for media rights.
Thanks to the latest IPL media rights sales, BCCI funds have swelled to ₹9629 crore. Arun Dhumal who was treasurer and will now become IPL chairman, said the funds are “roughly thrice” of where they were three years ago.
A decision on changes in the national selection committee will be recommended by the Cricket Advisory Committee (CAC), which will be formed when the Apex Council meets next month.
