“There’s a brilliant coordination between the COE, the team management of both the teams [men and women], the SSM [Sports Science & Medicine] staff and the selection committees, Laxman said.
“The process is that the selector [chairperson] reaches out to the COE asking for the fitness status report [of players]. And we collect the current status and send it to the selection committee chairperson, with a copy to the respective head coach and BCCI.”
Bumrah is currently in rehab for a left knee niggle he was nursing since the T20 World Cup earlier in the year, while B Sai Sudharsan is yet to fully recover from a stress reaction on his right big toe. While Auqib Nabi was called in as a late replacement for Bumrah, the board hasn’t yet named Sai Sudharsan’s replacement.
“So Bumrah and Sai Sudharsan were going to be picked for Sri Lanka subject to fitness clearance. And as I told before, you assess them, you move them from one stage to the next stage.
“If the progression is slow, you communicate to the selection committee chairman and the head coach which is happening seamlessly. And they [players] understand that they’re not yet ready to participate in the series. Always it’s player-centric and team-centric. So that communication is happening seamlessly.”
The spate of injuries has heightened the focus on the CoE’s role even more because they continue to operate without a Head of Sports Science & Medicine. Nitin Patel, the former department head, resigned a year ago. Laxman, however, explained that the vacancy was not due to a lack of effort.
“After Nitin Patel’s exit, we didn’t get anyone,” Laxman explained. “With Andrew Leipus, everything was agreed upon. But at the last minute, he backed off citing family reasons. We then had a panel comprising Dr. Dinshaw Pardiwala, Dr. Ashish Soni and myself, which shortlisted five candidates.
“An Australian candidate was our top choice, but he too backed out because he couldn’t move to Bangalore. This is a full-time responsibility that needs you to be based here. Periodic monitoring doesn’t work. We were in touch with another head of Sports Science who worked with the All Blacks. He too initially agreed, but backed out at the last moment.
“The second and third candidates [identified by the panel during that process] are already working at the CoE. Now, it is our responsibility to upskill them, while looking to identify someone of that stature and experience and knowledge.”
Laxman also stressed that the CoE’s role wasn’t merely that of a rehab centre for injured players. He explained that players must meet certain prescribed benchmarks and complete their Return To Play (RTP) programmes before receiving the necessary clearance.
“Whenever the player gets injured in whatever environment, if it is the Indian team, the Indian team physio understands the nature of the injury and then we’ve got experts and specialists with whom we have got a year-long connection.
“And once that diagnosis happens, those players are sent to the COE. We clinically examine them [through] the SSM team. Based on that assessment, we know the plan of action for their recovery.
“Once the player is ready for the next phase, which is your strength and conditioning, then the S&C coach comes and plays a part. Now, once the next phase starts after the S&C, slowly they go to the skill part and then we build up the load and then we play two RTP matches before we declare the player fit.
“And the whole idea is that when he goes back to the Indian team, men and women, or wherever, including the state teams or whatever teams he is participating, he has to be up and running and from the first match, he has been able to perform to the best of his potential.
“Now, it’s an objective way of assessing the player to move from one stage to the next stage. And this is where I think it’s very important to understand that the guidelines and the timelines are given based on what you expect. But it’s human body. It is not a machine where the timelines will always be met.”
The one area CoE has focused on tremendously is in integrating technology into their injury management process. Laxman cited the example of AMS (Athlete Monitoring System) to underline how certain injuries can be prevented.
“Through this technology, you understand the workload, and all this is there on a regular basis on the AMS,” he said. “Like the bowling workload for a fast bowler. And I think our learning is the stress injuries or the injuries happen not because a fast bowler is bowling too much. It happens that the fast bowler is not bowling enough. And I think that’s a critical part for all of us to understand.
“So there’s a sweet spot we have for each and every fast bowler across the contracted, the targeted, and the under-19s, and there’s a weekly monitoring of that load. So you give them X number of deliveries which they have to bowl in a week, and then through the GPS, which we, with the players, we get the information whether they have been able to fulfil that or not.
“So there is a lot of emphasis on monitoring the load, and I think through technology to various, you know, tools, we monitor that. And I think remote monitoring is something which is very, very critical. At the same time, it’s an evolving thing for us in how to remotely monitor a player when he’s not in front of us.”
Shashank Kishore is a senior correspondent at Cricinfo
