Bhuvi fitness issue puts BCCI support staff under scanner

Aggravation of Bhuvneshwar Kumar’s back injury during the third ODI against England has raised questions on the role of Indian team physio Patrick Farhart and trainer Shankar Basu in handling of the situation.

The UP pacer has been suffering from a stiff back since the start of IPL. Bhuvneshwar has currently not been named in the squad for the first three Tests “as his condition is being assessed by the BCCI medical team”.

However, a senior BCCI official privy to team selection was “surprised” as to why he was played in the third ODI if he wasn’t fully fit.

“Please go and ask Ravi Shastri that question,” the official replied when asked about Bhuvneshwar’s injury management.

“The moment we are saying he has aggravated his injury, we are conceding that he wasn’t fully fit. So if he is a vital cog in our Test match scheme of things, why was he risked for an ODI,” the official questioned on Wednesday.

There are questions being raised whether Farhart and Basu had given a proper update about Bhuvneshwar’s fitness. “If you look at IPL, Bhuvi missed five out of 17 games for Sunrisers. The BCCI had asked the franchise to look after his workload management. Then he was rested for Afghanistan Test so that he gets time to recover for UK tour. But it seems something is amiss and that’s quite baffling” the official said.