Injured for India, fit for Mumbai Indians: What next in the Rohit Sharma saga?
The last league game of IPL 2020 was inconsequential for Mumbai Indians. They had long qualified for the play-offs, and were so far ahead of the other teams that even a loss kept them on top of the IPL 2020 points table. In this scenario, it was rather shocking to see regular MI skipper Rohit Sharma, who had missed a number of recent games, turn up for the toss.
The first question on bewildered fans’ mind was — wasn’t he injured and unfit? Questioned at the toss if everything was alright, Rohit laughingly brushed aside the query with an evasive “Yeah, looks like that” reply.
What’s going on between Rohit Sharma and the BCCI?
Rohit Sharma's presence in the Mumbai playing XI was bound to raise serious questions about his fitness and nature of injury. Just hours after BCCI President Sourav Ganguly ‘confirmed’ that Rohit was injured, and hence not included in any of the squads for the Australia tour, the 33-year-old walked out to open for Mumbai Indians against Sunrisers Hyderabad.
In an interview to PTI, Ganguly said explained,
“Rohit is injured at the moment. Otherwise, why would we leave out a player like him. He is the vice-captain of the national (limited-overs) team. We will have to assess him. I don’t know (when he can come back). He hasn’t played so far since the time he has got injured. We want him to recover. It’s the BCCI’s job to get their best players on the park. If he recovers, he plays.”
A couple of days earlier, India’s head coach Ravi Shastri had his say on the matter pertaining to Rohit Sharma's injury. Speaking to Times Now, Shastri recalled his own battle with injury and how it cost him his career, urging Rohit not to rush himself back.
“It’s being handled by the people in charge of the medical part of it. We don’t get involved in that. They have submitted a report to the selectors and they have gone about their business," Shastri said.
"There is nothing more frustrating for a player than he gets injured. Sometimes you know, you want to get out of that room of yours and try and see how quickly you can come back. And therein lies the grey area. Therein lies the problem where you want to go and play, you want to test yourself. But only you will know at the back of your mind whether you are 100% of there is a chance of it going again," he added.
Ex-India cricketers pitch in on Rohit Sharma's injury controversy
The suspense over Rohit Sharma’s fitness mystery has baffled not just fans, but former Indian cricketers as well. Hours after he was left out of India’s squads for the tour down under, MI posted video clips of Rohit training on their social media accounts, leading to demands for transparency from Sunil Gavaskar.
"I didn't see what was shown, something about him (Rohit) practicing in the nets for Mumbai Indians. So I don't know what his injury is. If his injury was serious, he won't even be padded up. So we're talking about a tour which is starting in December, the Test matches start around December 17 which is a month and a half away," Sunil Gavaskar was quoted as telling Star Sports.
"If he is practicing in the nets for Mumbai Indians, honestly I don't know what kind of injury it is. I think a little bit of transparency and a little bit of openness about what actually is the problem with him will help everybody. The Indian cricket fan deserves to know more than anything else,” the cricketer-turned-commentator added.
Another former India legend, Virender Sehwag, could not believe that Shastri was clueless about Rohit’s injury status despite being the head coach.
“I don’t think that it is possible that Ravi Shastri did not know about Rohit Sharma’s situation. Even if he is not a part of the selection committee, the selectors must have spoken to him a day or two days ago regarding what is he thinking, and taken his feedback and inputs,” Sehwag told Cricbuzz.
“I am surprised to see that a player who is ready to play for the franchise has not been selected to play for the country. This is surprising and mismanagement from the BCCI. They should have taken all the information that if he can play for his IPL team, then he should be kept in the Indian team,” the former swashbuckling opener added.
“This feels very bad if this is a mismanagement. Rohit Sharma and the Indian team have crores of fans and they all were thinking that why Rohit was dropped? Has he suffered such a serious injury that he will not be able to play for 2-3 more months?” Sehwag questioned.
The BCCI is the richest cricketing body in the world, and India is the most revered team across the globe. The fans demand transparency from the Indian cricket board over the straightforward matter of a player’s injury, especially when it is the Indian limited-overs team vice-captain Rohit Sharma.
By passing the buck over Rohit Sharma's fitness, the BCCI president and head coach have angered Indian cricket's fans and stalwarts. Further secrecy over Rohit Sharma's injury threatens to cause more embarrassment to BCCI and Indian cricket.