VVS Laxman responds to controversy around Jasprit Bumrah and Sai Sudharsan's fitness

Head of Cricket at the BCCI's Centre of Excellence (CoE), VVS Laxman, has opened up on the controversy surrounding the fitness of Jasprit Bumrah and Sai Sudharsan. Both players were named in India's original squad for the two-match Test series against Sri Lanka, starting August 13, with subject to fitness clearance.

However, Bumrah couldn't recover from his knee injury on time and was subsequently replaced by Auqib Nabi in the squad. As for Sudharsan, he continues to undergo rehab at the CoE for a toe stress fracture and is also likely to miss out on the tour.

In a media interaction at the CoE on Sunday (August 9), Laxman specified that the selection committee was kept in the loop about the fitness of both players and they were named in the squad, hoping that they would recover in time for the first Test in Galle. The former India cricketer also explained the framework used to keep the BCCI, the head coaches (men and women) and the selectors (men and women) in synchronisation regarding a player's recovery at the CoE.

"The process is that the selector reaches out to the COE asking for the fitness status report. And we collect the current fitness status and send a report to the selection committee chairman or chairperson in the women's selection committee, with a copy to obviously the head coach of both the teams and the BCCI," said Laxman during the media interaction.

"So, Bumrah and Sai Sudarshan were going to be picked to Sri Lanka subject to fitness clearance. And as I told before, you know, you assess them, you move them from one stage to the next stage, and if the progression is slow, you communicate to the selection committee chairman and the head coach, which is happening seamlessly."

Laxman emphasised that there is complete transparency "in all the fitness reports and also in the selection," and it is clearly underlined that a player's participation is subject to fitness whenever he or she is touch-and-go for a series.

"There's transparency in all the fitness reports and also in the selection. At the end of the selection, it's clearly mentioned that these players are picked subject to fitness. Means if they don't clear the fitness test, the selectors will know who are the other players who will go in their place if they don't clear the fitness test. I mean, it's basic common sense," he added.