BCCI orders overhaul of Bengaluru Centre of Excellence fitness programme
Harshit Rana was flagged as overweight by four kilograms after returning from England, while Mohammed Siraj was caught off guard by revised fitness benchmarks upon arriving at the CoE before India's tour of Sri Lanka.
The Board of Control for Cricket in India has ordered a major overhaul of the Bengaluru Centre of Excellence fitness programme. A string of injuries left the side thin on options, and internal reviews pinned part of the problem on the lack of clear fitness standards. Players had been assessed with customised tests rather than a single set of benchmarks.
CricHubb Take
The real test will come when the first batch of players returns from the IPL with their own trainers' programmes in tow — whether the CoE can enforce one standard across every state unit without creating a two-tier system between centrally contracted players and the rest.