Wasim Jaffer urges stricter fitness tests for India after injury spate

Former India batter Wasim Jaffer wants the team to bring back the strict fitness regime that defined the Kohli-Shastri years. Back then, players who failed the tests were simply left out.

Five frontline options are already ruled out for the Sri Lanka Tests. Jasprit Bumrah is managing knee swelling, Sai Sudharsan, Harshit Rana, Nitish Kumar Reddy and Washington Sundar are all unavailable, while Akash Deep has been out longest with a lower-back stress fracture. The white-ball squad is short too—Hardik Pandya, Varun Chakravarthy and Prince Yadav are at the Centre of Excellence.

Jaffer insists the facility itself isn’t the problem. Contracted players still sit regular fitness tests, and injured players stay on for rehab. Selection decisions, he points out, rest with the captain, coach and selectors—not the physios.