The “aggravation” of Bhuvneshwar Kumar‘s lower-back injury during the third ODI has left BCCI officials back in India infuriated. Bhuvneshwar had missed the first two ODIs with a stiff back, but was selected for the series-decider during which he aggravated his condition and was not named in the squad for the first three Tests in England. The selection meeting for the Tests took place the day after India lost the ODI series. Bhuvneshwar bowled seven overs for 49 runs and no wickets in the decider, and also dropped a catch.
An important member of the side, responsible for 42% of the wickets India took in their last Test series in England, Bhuvneshwar has been struggling with a back issue since the start of the IPL where his workload was managed. Even before the IPL, Bhuvneshwar sat out of the Nidahas Trophy and the one-off Test against Afghanistan to manage the injury. Some BCCI officials are incensed that he was risked in an ODI when an important Test series, in which Jasprit Bumrah‘s participation was also in doubt, was around the corner.
At the toss, Virat Kohli said the decision to bring Bhuvneshwar back for the decider was taken to given him some game time. “Some tactical some because the guys haven’t got a game so far,” Kohli explained the three changes to the XI. “So Bhuvi and Shardul Thakur come in for Umesh [Yadav] and Sid [Siddarth] Kaul. And KL Rahul misses out. Dinesh Karthik replaces him at No. 4. He has done well at that spot, and we just wanted to have a guy in the middle overs who can be versatile and improvise a little. Yeah Dinesh was tactical, and the other two guys because they haven’t got a game yet.”
The natural question that arises is: if the performance of Umesh and Kaul was not an issue, why did India not let Bhuvneshwar rest and be in his best condition for the Tests? In the previous ODIs the spinners had kept India in the game after rampaging starts by England. At Lord’s, where England won, Umesh and Kaul came undone in the death overs against the No. 8 batsman David Willey, who scored the fastest fifty by an England batsman against India. Between them, Umesh and Kaul had bowled 37.5 overs for 254 runs and three wickets.
The BCCI officials are enraged at the management of the injury. They are raising questions. If the same injury has reared up again, why is the yo-yo test, which Bhuvneshwar cleared, the ultimate word on fitness? And once the BCCI press release uses the word “aggravate” and not “resurface”, according to one of the officials, the team management is conceding he was not fully fit and was risked for the ODI. The officials want clarity on the part played by physio Patrick Farhart and trainer Shankar Basu in the management of Bhuvneshwar.
ESPNcricinfo understands Bhuvneshwar will be returning to India immediately to recuperate from the back issue. Bhuvneshwar will undergo intense rehabilitation for about four weeks at the National Cricket Academy in Bengaluru before the selectors make an assessment on his fitness for the final two Tests.
An official present in Leeds says Bhuvneshwar passed a fitness test on Tuesday before the team management decided to include him in the XI. Bhuvneshwar was the first player to enter Headingley on Tuesday morning and did stretching routines, under the observation of Basu. The fact that Bhuvneshwar was in the reckoning for the final ODI of the England series became clear after he bowled for about half an hour in the optional training session India had on Monday afternoon in Leeds.
After India were sent in, Bhuvneshwar batted for nearly an hour, first in the company of MS Dhoni and then the tail, to take help raise a modest total of 256. He finished the match wicketless and also dropped a straightforward catch.
The official present in Leeds pointed out that the team management had been guarding Bhuvneshwar keeping in mind the freak injury that ruled out Bumrah. Bumrah hurt his thumb in the first T20I of the UK tour, against Ireland, and returned to the NCA. Although Bumrah is part of the 18-man squad, the BCCI confirmed he would sit out the first Test at Edgbaston.
Although Bhuvneshwar had passed the pre-match fitness test on Tuesday, the official said he was “probably a bit jaded” when he arrived in the UK after the IPL. This official said the team management has agreed that the workload management of key players like Bhuvneshwar and Bumrah would henceforth be closely monitored to keep them fresh for the World Cup.
Source: ESPN Crickinfo