Sourav Ganguly, the President of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI,) spoke about his discussion with Rahul Dravid, the Head of the National Cricket Academy, during their recent meeting.
Recently, Sourav Ganguly met Rahul Dravid at the BCCI headquarters in Mumbai. The meeting was organised to discuss the growth of the NCA, including better injury management of players.
Speaking about the same, Sourav Ganguly said, “I met Rahul Dravid yesterday, and we have put a system in place. The bowlers will have to go to the NCA. If anybody (else) has to treat them, they will have to come to NCA.”
Mr. Ganguly addressed The Hindu and said, “Whatever may be the reason, we will accommodate everything. We will also make sure the players are comfortable and they don’t feel left out or out of place. So, we will do it that way.” He further said, “We are going full throttle with the NCA. Construction work will start (at the new land) and it will be a state of the art unit. In 18 months, if we are still there, you will see an NCA that will be spick and span.”
Clarifying his stand about the injury management of the Indian Cricket Team’s players, Sourav Ganguly said the players have to go to the NCA and follow the designated process at the NCA.
The discussion regarding the same came after Jasprit Bumrah was refused a fitness test at the NCA after he recovered from his back injury. According to sources, Jasprit Bumrah, instead of going for rehabilitation at the NCA, chose private specialists for the same. Jasprit Bumrah, Hardik Pandya, Bhuvneshwar Kumar and many other Indian cricketers reported poor injury management at the NCA, following which they chose to consult private specialists. The players said Aashish Kaushik, the physiotherapist at the NCA, is not an expert and there are poor facilities at the NCA.
Sourav Ganguly said, “I am not aware of the issue. But Indian players will have to go back to NCA and we will make sure it is comfortable and logistically easier.”
Besides the injury management of players by the NCA, Sourav Ganguly also spoke about the upcoming U-19 Cricket World Cup, an international cricket tournament. Rahul Dravid is in South Africa with the U-19 team which is scheduled to play the U-19 Cricket World Cup against South Africa from the 17th of January.
Stay tuned for further updates.
