‘Fit’ Varun Chakravarthy Can’t Throw the Ball; Selectors Informed

The leg spinner has a labrum tear in his shoulder that doesn’t affect his bowling but hampers his throwing.

Indian selectors after having selected the mystery spinner Varun Chakravarthy for the T20Is against Australia have learned that he cannot throw the ball owing to a shoulder injury.

The 29-year-old leg spinner has a labrum tear in his shoulder that doesn’t affect his bowling but hampers his throwing. It’s an injury that he has had for a while but has aggravated as the IPL progressed, according to sources in Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR).

According to a report in The Indian Express, Chakravarthy was declared fit in players fitness report submitted by the Indian team’s physio Nitin Patel before the selectors picked him in India’s T20 squad.

“The selectors weren’t informed about the injury. Now it’s up to the selectors to pick Varun for the Australian tour or not. It will be selectors call,” a BCCI official told The Indian Express.

The injury was the major reason that Chakravarthy fielded inside the 30-yard circle in this IPL to reduce the strain on his shoulder and eventually prevent it from getting worse. However, Chakravarthy has joined the Team India nets in Dubai bio-bubble, after his side’s IPL 2020 campaign ended.

Communication Between Franchise and Board About Players’ Fitness

According to a franchise chief executive, the fitness of BCCI-contracted players in IPL is monitored by the physios of the respective franchises. It is reported to the Indian team/BCCI physio if there’s an injury.

From then on, the franchise physio monitors the player’s fitness in coordination with the BCCI physio.

The franchise physio sends reports to the BCCI physio who follows it with his advice in terms of deciding the future course of action.

This isn’t the first injury for an India player during/after this IPL, as Rohit Sharma, Ishant Sharma, Bhuvneshwar Kumar and the new addition to the list Wriddhiman Saha are all nursing their injuries. While, Ishant and Bhuvneshwar are doing their rehab at the National Cricket Academy (NCA) in Bangalore, Rohit after missing four games for Mumbai Indians, has come back and played the last two games.

Saha, who has a hamstring tear – as informed by his Sunrisers Hyderabad skipper David Warner at the toss of the game against Delhi Capitals on Sunday – was reported that he will be fit in time for the Test Series, which starts on 17 December.

(With inputs from The Indian Express)