Ravi Shastri: If an India player needs to be rested in IPL, so be it

Shastri pins hopes on incoming BCCI president Roger Binny to bring in changes to current scheme of things.

Published : Oct 13, 2022 07:00 IST , Mumbai

Ravi Shatri speaks at an event organized by the Mumbai Press Club.
Ravi Shatri speaks at an event organized by the Mumbai Press Club. | Photo Credit: Shayan Acharya
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Ravi Shatri speaks at an event organized by the Mumbai Press Club. | Photo Credit: Shayan Acharya

The injuries to India’s key pacers Jasprit Bumrah and Deepak Chahar ahead of the T20 World Cup have once again sparked the debate on maintaining the workload of top players.

Former India international and erstwhile head coach of the Indian cricket team, Ravi Shastri, believes that if a player needs to be rested during the Indian Premier League for the sake of keeping him fit for international assignments, the Board should take the tough call. He believes Roger Binny, who is set to take over as the new BCCI president, can play a key role on that front.

“With the volume of cricket that exists today, it’s extremely important that you get the balance right of how much a player plays. When should he be rested? And there, a (BCCI) president can play a big role,” Shastri said at an event organised by Mumbai Press Club on Wednesday.

“Tomorrow, if a cricketer, for the sake of playing for India, needs to be rested in the IPL for a certain number of games, so be it. The (BCCI) president has to sit with the franchise and explain he’s extremely important for India first and then the franchise”.

Shastri adds that after discussions with the team management as to who the players are who need rest, the Board should then follow up with the franchises. “Then take that forward to the franchise. In no way getting in the way of the franchise, but in a nice way telling them that he’s an important player for India. National interest is paramount,” Shastri pointed out.

With India’s top fast bowlers getting injured after undergoing regular rehabilitation programmes, the National Cricket Academy in Bengaluru has also come under scanner. “It was the most frustrating thing for me as (India coach), when you lose key players to injuries. We toured England and New Zealand twice. On all those tours, Bhuvneshwar Kumar was injured, where he’d have got a bagful of wickets with his skills. Now, you see (Deepak) Chahar has hardly played, and he’s injured. I was looking at the stats. Bumrah has played 5 matches since the last T20 World Cup and he’s injured. So, you’ve got to look at it very seriously, as to why it is happening,” Shastri said.

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