'I've Noticed Faults In System,' Mohammad Kaif Lambasts VVS Laxman-Led NCA
Former Indian cricketer-turned commentator Mohammad Kaif has lambasted the VVS Laxman-led National Cricket Academy (NCA) for the frequent breakdown of the Indian players in recent times.
The NCA has been the talk of the town in the past 2-3 years, with several players ending up aggravating their respective injuries after pre-maturely being declared fit by the medical team, only for them to break down on their return to international cricket.
Recently, Shreyas Iyer aggravated his back injury after he was rushed by the NCA to feature in the Border Gavaskar Trophy, which has now resulted in him being out of contention for the next few months.
Even in the past, there have been several cricketers like Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Wriddhiman Saha and Ishant Sharma, whose injuries became worse once they entered the NCA.
The biggest case in point is ace pacer Jasprit Bumrah, who too was rushed into playing the T20I series against Australia ahead of last years' T20 World Cup, resulting in him missing out on the marquee event, the entire home season, the IPL and the WTC final.
Speaking to Sportskeeda, Mohammad Kaif questioned the VVS Laxman-led cricket academy, stating that he has noticed faults in the system, and that the administrators should take better care of Indian cricketers as its unfair for the fans, who wait for the return of their favourite stars day in and day out.
Here's what Mohammad Kaif said-
"I have noticed faults in the system. Players have gotten picked in the squad, and then pulled out before the match citing they weren’t fully fit. This happened to Bumrah recently and even Mohammad Shami has done this a couple of times. So the NCA trainers, physios, VVS Laxman and his team have to take care of these situations. Because it is unfair on the fans of cricket who are expecting Bumrah to play the next day. I feel this is a very serious matter and the management shouldn’t take it lightly."
He further called for transparency in the system, stating that there should be no 'grey areas' left before declaring a player as fit.
"There should be transparency and players should be tested properly before being declared fit. There shouldn’t be any grey area left; a player is either fit or more 10-20 days will be needed. As a Bumrah fan, I want to know what injury he has, what is his recovery time, etc. So they should address this transparency bit and put forth the exact matter."
Meanwhile, both Bumrah and Shreyas are all set to undergo their respective back surgeries. The timeline of their return is yet to be ascertained but the BCCI is hopeful that the latter will be back in time before the 2023 World Cup.
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