IPL 2020: BCCI To Monitor Indian Players' Workload

Updated - 11 Mar 2020, 06:39 PM

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IPL Trophy(Credits - Twitter)

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The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has decided to work closely on monitoring Indian players’ fitness during this year’s Indian Premier League (IPL).

The IPL 2020 will commence from 29th March and will be played for over two months. The first game will take place between last year’s finalists, Mumbai Indians (MI) and Chennai Super Kings (CSK).

IPL, IPL 2020, Indian Premier League 2020 — IPL Trophy. Photo by: Deepak Malik /SPORTZPICS for BCCI

The Indian National Cricket Team is arguably the busiest team in world cricket. They are constantly playing games at home and away from home. This risks players’ chances of getting injured day in and day out.

IPL 2020: BCCI To Monitor Indian Players’ Workload

“We will communicate our concerns to the respective IPL teams on the workload management of the players. We are more concerned about players who are coming fresh from injuries – Shikhar, Bhuvneshwar, Hardik, even Ishant (who is not part of limited-overs set-up),” a BCCI official told PTI on Wednesday.

India, Three Indian Players Who Deserve Rest, India National Cricket Team, — India (Image Credit: Twitter)

However, the official stated that although BCCI will monitor the workload of Indian players, the board can not enforce anything on the franchises.

“Though we will monitor the workload of our players closely but we can’t force things down on the IPL teams after a point. They want their best players to play, so the onus here lies on the player more than anybody else to avoid burn out,” the official added.

BCCI Under Fire After Indian Players’ Fitness Issues Arise

Hardik Pandya, who was out of action for more than six months having undergone back surgery, is set to play his first international game on Thursday since September.

Ace fast bowler Bhuvneshwar Kumar was also out of action for long after he had to get his sports hernia operated. He has also been included in the India ODI squad for the South Africa series.

Sourav Ganguly | Australia vs India 2018-19 | — Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Hardik Pandya. Credit: Getty Images

Shikhar Dhawan too is back having endured multiple injuries over the past 12 months. There have been questions raised over poor handling of Ishant Sharma’s ankle injury which recurred during the recently-held Test series in New Zealand.