Delhi: Problems to injury and fitness of players are constantly in the news in Indian cricket. The Bengaluru-based BCCI Center of Excellence or CoE plays an important role in the process of players' treatment, rehab, fitness test and return to the field. Despite this, in recent times many players have been seen struggling with fitness problems again after recovering from injuries. The fitness status of many players from Hardik Pandya to Varun Chakraborty and Harshit Rana has once again raised questions on the functioning of the CoE.

In such a situation, the discussion is not only about the frequent injuries of the players, but also about whether the current rehab and fitness system of COE is working properly according to the increasing demands of international cricket.

After all, what is the work of COE?

BCCI's Center of Excellence is not limited to just the rehab of players. Here sports medicine, physiotherapy, strength and conditioning, sports science, skill development and performance analysis have been integrated together.

The process from investigation of the player's problem after injury to rehabilitation and return to the field is part of the responsibility of the COE.

CoE head VVS Laxman had said in August that the process of recovery from injury starts from medical and physiotherapy, to strength and conditioning, cricket- training and gradually increased workload. After this, the player has to play two 'Return to Play' i.e. RTP matches before returning to the match. He is declared fit only after achieving the required benchmarks.

Why are questions being raised on CoE?

The questions have become important because in recent months many players have again struggled with fitness problems despite rehabbing at the COE after injury.

In July, both Harshit Rana and Varun Chakraborty reached COE due to hamstring injuries. BCCI had confirmed the rehab of both.

After this, Varun's case especially came into discussion. He returned to the T20 series against Afghanistan after regaining fitness after rehab. But after playing the first match in Delhi, he complained of side strain and was out of the remaining matches. The right-arm bowler was again sent to the COE for investigation.

Talking about Harshit, he was progressing well during rehab at COE, but on September 7, he suffered a rectus femoris strain while bowling in a match simulation. After this he was left out of the Afghanistan T20 series and Asian Games team.

Apart from this, the team's star all-rounder Hardik Pandya has also been spending time in COE for a long time. He had once become almost completely fit. His name also came in the Indian team, but during rehab in COE, he got injured again. This is the reason why questions are being raised on COE.

COE will have to do better work

The series of injuries to players in Indian cricket is not showing any signs of stopping. In such a situation, the responsibility of COE increases further. Although re-injury of a player does not mean that the CoE should be held directly responsible for this, there is definitely a need to strengthen the process of injury prevention, rehab, workload management and return to the match.

The biggest question in this whole matter is not just how many players are getting injured. The real challenge is how to create a better coordination between injury prevention, rehab, fitness tests and return to the field. Before declaring a player fit, it is also important to ensure that he is fully prepared for the pressure of the match and the ever-increasing cricket schedule.

Interestingly, BCCI has invited applications for the post of Head of Sports Science and Medicine in COE on September 11. The responsibilities of this post include injury prevention, rehab, player welfare, performance benchmarking, research and use of new technology.

This shows that BCCI is working on further strengthening the sports science and medical system. Now the biggest challenge before the CoE will be to convert these arrangements into better results on the field. New fitness standards, better workload monitoring and better coordination between the medical team, selectors and team management will determine how effective the system proves to be in keeping players fit for a longer period of time.