BCCI cannot interfere over player fitness during IPL: Saikia

Devajit Saikia, the BCCI secretary, has conceded that the BCCI cannot interfere with the IPL franchises’ fitness assessment of a BCCI-contracted player during the T20 extravaganza.

“As far as the IPL is concerned, the franchises take care of the injuries and the fitness of the players. Of course, our physios from the Centre of Excellence are also monitoring them. They are giving them the workload as well as the plan for how to keep them fit, so monitoring is there, but we cannot interfere too much when the IPL is going on,” Saikia said in Mumbai on Tuesday (May 19, 2026) after the announcement of India’s squad for the home series against Afghanistan.

“Had it been the Indian team, our control would have been more. Now, we are giving that freedom to the franchises that take calls on their players, and we definitely look into their fitness level when it comes to selecting the national team.”

Varun Chakaravarthy is reportedly bowling in the IPL despite having fractured his toe. There has been a lot of ambiguity over whether Arshdeep Singh has been carrying a niggle. And Rohit Sharma and Hardik Pandya have been selected subject to fitness clearance by the BCCI.

“Sometimes a player knows whether he can play through it or not. I won’t be able to tell you sitting here whether they are playing through niggles or not. You certainly want them fit when they represent the national team. But that’s an area of expertise for the trainers and the physios who kind of give me the feedback of where a player is at,” chief selector Ajit Agarkar said.

“I am not an expert in that area. If they tell me a certain guy is fit, I have to trust that person when we pick them. And maybe in two weeks, if we are told that those two guys [Rohit and Hardik] haven’t quite made it fitness-wise, we will take a call accordingly. But at this point, I’ve been told that they are on track and we will perhaps assess it. Whether they have been playing with something, I am not sure. I go by what the physio tells me, and I have full faith in them”.