‘Few are permanent residents of NCA…’: Ravi Shastri frustrated on Indian pacers getting injured

New Delhi: Indian pacers are getting injured more often than before and the injuries have costed men in blue in the ICC tournaments. Talking about Deepak Chahar’s injury, former coach Ravi Shastri called this phenomenon ‘frustrating’ and ‘unreal’. In a pre-match discussion with ESPNcricinfo, Shastri expressed his views on Indian pacers spending more time in rehab than playing.

Deepak Chahar pulled his hamstring while playing for Chennai Super Kings against Mumbai Indians and this was his second hamstring injury in five months. Shastri said that in the last three or four years, a few players have become permanent residents of the NCA, and jokingly added that they will also get a resident permit, which is ‘unreal’.

He said that it is not the case that there is much of a workload and if bowlers cannot play four consecutive games, then why are they going to NCA? He advised that the players should come to the game fully fit otherwise it is frustrating for teammates, captains and BCCI. He added that he understands if it is a case with some serious injury but getting groin or hamstring injuries regularly is not a good sign.

Chahar is going through scans and his future in the tournament is at stake. In February, the bowler said that he had two big injuries, one was a stress fracture and one was a quad grade 3 tear, which kept him out of the game and recovery for fast bowlers takes time.

He is not the only pacer with such regular injuries, Navdeep Saini, Mohsin Khan, Kuldip Sen, and Yash Dayal are a few names on the list. The recent and most worrisome case is of India’s ace pacer Jasprit Bumrah, who played his last game in September 2022 and missed the T20 World Cup too.

CSK will face Rajasthan Royals at Chepauk on April 12 at 7:30 pm.