The Centre of Excellence (CoE) has been under the pump over the number of injuries to Indian cricket players. The latest example is Varun Chakrabortywho made his long-awaited return to the side after his fitness issues in England.

The 35-year-old played just one game against Afghanistan before getting injured again and losing a chance to be part of the team for the Asian Games 2026.

The 22-year-old Vipraj Nigam replaced the right-arm spinner.

Ravichandran Ashwin isn’t happy with the constant fitness issues. “The time has come to make separate sides for all three formats. There might be a few players who could be featured in multiple formats, but somewhere down the line there has to be some accountability taken for the players’ injury management.”

While speaking about Varun, the former CSK star said, “I know that he was there for 3-4 months, and Chakravarthy had sought permission to play the TNPL but wasn’t released. He should have been back within a month but stayed there for 2-3 months. As a player, one has to see if he is training right and the method and exercises are correct. The only time I got a side strain was in 2015 while doing Olympic lifting.”

Big names yet to return

Another player who hasn’t made his return to the field is Hardik Pandya.

The 32-year-old was initially supposed to return for the Afghanistan series in June, but new fitness issues derailed his return. Pandya was not cleared for the Afghanistan series.

Mumbai Indians skipper, though, was asked to stop bowling after a few niggles in his legs. Head coach Gautam Gambhir revealed that the veteran star is still not bowling 10 overs and the management doesn’t want to rush his return.

Harshit Ranawho has been dealing with injuries, made his return to the side for the Ireland series. The 24-year-old also played the first few games against England before being ruled out just ahead of the third T20I. Rana was initially named in the squad for Afghanistan and the Asian Games, but he was ruled out, with Yash Thakur taking his spot in the team.