Cricket News: 2022 - Year of injuries for Indian cricket
Rohit Sharma's admission that India need to look into the mounting list of injuries after their loss to Bangladesh in the second ODI speaks to a growing problem they have faced this year.
Jasprit Bumrah's injury is big blow to Team India.Several injury issues have plagued the team, and it doesn't seem like they are going away soon. Kuldeep Sen and Deepak Chahar have been afflicted by injuries recently – in Chahar's case, it was a case of him being injured again.
"It's something we have to look at. We have to sit with our team back home at the NCA as well and try to monitor their workload. That is something we need to look at," Rohit said after the match.
"We can't afford guys coming in here half-fit and representing the country. There's enormous pride and honour in representing the country; if they're not fit enough, it's not ideal.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Notes - <br>Jasprit Bumrah and Harshal Patel were not available for selection owing to injuries. They are currently undergoing rehab at the NCA in Bengaluru.<br><br>Three players - Shreyas Iyer, Axar Patel and Deepak Chahar have been named as standbys.</p>— BCCI (@BCCI) <a href="https://twitter.com/BCCI/status/1556667161955176449?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 8, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
"Having said that, we just need to get to the bottom of it and find out what exactly is the reason behind this."
Indeed, India might have had a better chance of competing in the T20 World Cup earlier this year without injury issues.
The team missed both premier all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja and pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah, with both getting injured ahead of the tournament.
And several players besides them also dealt with injury issues. Harshal Patel was on the sidelines, and Chahar has had a year where he's been injured more than he's played.
Similarly, Washington Sundar – a player who's been one of the best on this tour – has also struggled with time on the bench.
It's not been ideal for the Indian team, yet more so than the physical, it has been the mental scars that India will hang on to.
India played in two tournaments they were expected to win this year – the Asia Cup and the T20 World Cup – and they lost out in both.
The Asia Cup saw them lose in a shocking manner to both Pakistan and Sri Lanka in the Super Six round, meaning they were out by the time they played and thrashed Afghanistan.
But the T20 World Cup saw the gulf in class between them and the gold standard exposed – as they lost out in the semis to eventual winners England.
And England displayed everything that India could not – they batted with intent, had a variety in their bowling attack that made them unpredictable, and had a team that was, in many ways, better built for this format.
It was a loss that hurt and India skipper Rohit Sharma was seen openly sobbing on TV after the loss. And it compounded the misery of Indian fans.
However, 2023 can be better – the future isn't bleak for Indian cricket. There is a lot of talent out there, and the Indian team needs just a rebuild of sorts.
But from purely a results perspective, 2022 has been a bad year for India.