Posers on COE rehab process after Bumrah ruled out of Sri Lanka Tests

Washington Sundar and Harshit Rana suffered fresh injuries in the UK after going through a long recovery stint at the COE. Both had hamstring issues.

Nitish Kumar Reddy couldn’t make the tour after suffering a quadriceps injury while playing the ODI series at home against Afghanistan in June.

Bumrah has been nursing a knee niggle since the T20 World Cup at home, and it flared up ahead of the final ODI at Lord’s last month, forcing him to sit out.

The BCCI had then termed it as an “impact injury” while fielding in the second ODI in Cardiff. The “reactive swelling” on the left knee had resulted in his discomfort.

Bumrah is understood to have been given an injection last month as part of a plan drawn up by the medical team, but full recovery will take some more time. He joined the COE last week, but after fitness tests he continued to experience discomfort.

A call was then taken that rushing him could prove to be disastrous. Not all are confident that he would return to action quickly.

The team management was kept in the loop about the developments and a plan to send him for the second Test from August 23 was drawn up. But keeping in mind India’s packed upcoming calendar, it was decided not to take any further risk.

The world’s top-ranked Test bowler has had his workload managed since suffering a back injury during the 2024-25 Border-Gavaskar Trophy in Australia. He played only three of the five Tests in England and was rested for the Afghanistan match in June.

Even Mumbai Indians head coach Mahela Jayawardene had blamed Bumrah’s “slight niggle” for their below-par performance as he “needed time to regain rhythm”. Bumrah had been to the COE in late March to get fitness clearances for the IPL and played 13 matches in the tournament.

Bumrah’s unavailability means that India will be severely handicapped in a series they must win to stay in the reckoning for making the final of the World Test Championship. A 2-0 loss to South Africa at home late last year severely impacted their chances. They are currently placed fifth behind Australia, South Africa, New Zealand and Bangladesh.

With Washington also uncertain for the second Test, India will have to rejig their bowling line-up after assessing the conditions in Sri Lanka. Akash Deep too is recovering from a stress reaction on his back.

In Bumrah’s absence, the national selectors are likely to try out Auqib Nabi. The squad is scheduled to depart on Tuesday.

While Prasidh Krishna has featured regularly in recent Tests, the likes of Gurnoor Brar and Nabi will make a strong case for selection in the playing XI. Next up for India will be the two-match series in New Zealand in November.

Bumrah is unlikely to feature in every match of the five-Test series versus Australia in Janauary-March, and the selectors’ choice will be limited to only a few.

There has been a spate of injuries since Nitin Patel stepped down as the head of sports medicine at the COE a year ago. Dhananjay Kaushik is now in charge, but the feedback hasn’t been encouraging.

Captain Shubman Gill too had made his displeasure clear on the frequent injuries after the ODI series, saying “if after every match some player is missing then somewhere we are missing a trick”.

Gill had said that if the players were not able to “finish a two-to-three-match series”, it would surely be a concern at the ODI World Cup next year.

Two quicks are recently understood to have returned from the COE after gaining “extra weight”, much to the surprise of the team management. The COE, however, has put the blame on the think-tank’s keenness which forced the players to return without completing their rehab.

Will the BCCI look for an overhaul of personnel in charge of rehabilitation? Will the Board seek fresh physios at the COE? The problem seems to be quite grave and corrective measures need to be put in place quickly.

The BCCI brass will have to take a close look at the process in consultation with VVS Laxman in the best interests of Indian cricket.