A spate of injuries in Indian cricket! Why do cricketers keep getting injured? Saikia-Laxman meeting

XtraTime Newsdesk: Indian cricket’s growing injury list has raised a bigger question ahead of the Test series against Sri Lanka — why are so many players getting injured despite having a dedicated Centre of Excellence (CoE) and an elaborate fitness-management system?

The issue came under the spotlight on Sunday as BCCI Secretary Devajit Saikia held a high-level review meeting with CoE head VVS Laxman in Bengaluru. The discussions focused on player fitness, rehabilitation and the board’s strategy to reduce the number of injuries affecting the national team.

Laxman insisted that there is complete transparency in all fitness reports prepared by the CoE. However, the recurring injury concerns have inevitably led to questions over workload management, injury prevention and whether players are being pushed too hard across formats.

The BCCI is now looking beyond rehabilitation after injuries. Greater emphasis is expected to be placed on preventing injuries, monitoring workloads and ensuring players return to competitive cricket only when they are fully ready.

The meeting also put an end to another major speculation. Reports had suggested that Laxman could replace Gautam Gambhir as India’s Test coach. Saikia firmly rejected the claim, calling it “factually incorrect and baseless.” There is, therefore, no immediate change planned in the Test leadership structure.

But the bigger challenge remains fitness. With the Sri Lanka series approaching, the BCCI and CoE must find answers to a crucial question: are India dealing with an unavoidable injury problem, or are weaknesses in workload planning and injury prevention contributing to the crisis?