On August 9, 2026, BCCI secretary Devajit Saikia will travel to Bengaluru to meet with Head of Cricket VVS Laxman at the Center of Excellence. The visit’s objective is to directly assess the ongoing rehabilitation program at a time when an exceptionally high number of Indian cricket players are sidelined due to injuries in preparation for the Test tour of Sri Lanka.
It is clear that the BCCI has taken notice of the growing number of fitness issues with both the white-ball and Test teams. The goal of Devajit Saikia visit to the Center of Excellence is to provide the board with an up-close view of each player’s healing progress.
Which athletes are undergoing therapy right now?
Jasprit Bumrah, a member of the Test team, is unable to play in the Sri Lanka series due to swelling in his left knee. Due to a lower-back stress fracture, Akash Deep has been out of commission for the longest. Washington Sundar is recovering from a quadriceps injury, and Harshit Rana and Nitish Kumar Reddy are both suffering from hamstring issues. Due to a toe injury, B Sai Sudharsan is also sidelined.
Prince Yadav, Varun Chakravarthy, and Hardik Pandya of the white-ball team are all recovering at the Bengaluru Center of Excellence. The BCCI’s sports science and medical infrastructure is under investigation because to the large number of players undergoing simultaneous rehabilitation. Early in 2025, Nitin Patel, the permanent head of sports science, resigned. At the moment, Dhananjay Kaushik is in charge of the center’s operations as the interim head of sports science.
What is established by Devajit Saikia visit, and what comes next?
The next definite administrative step in the BCCI’s evaluation of the rehabilitation setup is the meeting between Devajit Saikia and Laxman on August 9. Before any judgements are made about the Sri Lanka tour, the board will have a better understanding of each player’s particular progress at the Center of Excellence.
Prior to the visit, no information on the availability of players or possible substitutes for the Sri Lanka tour has been released.
