Breakdown in communication reported between India team and Centre of Excellence
Communication issues between India's medical staff and the Centre of Excellence have come under scrutiny amid rising injuries.
A breakdown in communication has emerged between Team India's sports science and medicine unit and the BCCI's Centre of Excellence sports science team. The Times of India reported that cricket head VVS Laxman remains the only link between the two sides, with the CoE reluctant to adopt workload-management tweaks suggested by team strength and conditioning coach Adrian Le Roux in June 2025.
The CoE's annual report showed that 32 top men's players, including 20 centrally contracted players, underwent rehabilitation for injuries at the facility between April 2025 and March 2026. Most injuries were soft-tissue related, with Jasprit Bumrah, Hardik Pandya, Harshit Rana, Washington Sundar, Nitish Kumar Reddy and Prasidh Krishna among repeat cases. The Head of Sports Science and Medicine position at the CoE has remained vacant since Nitin Patel resigned in March 2025.
The CoE's projected expenses for 2026-27 were increased to Rs 127 crore, up from Rs 92 crore last year. Former India spinner Ravichandran Ashwin called for separate teams across formats to improve accountability for injury management.
CricHubb Take
The communication gap between the national team's medical staff and the CoE points to structural issues that predate any single appointment. Without a dedicated head of sports science at the CoE, the disconnect is likely to persist regardless of individual personnel changes.