‘In IPL, teams take care of players’ fitness’: BCCI’s Saikia on A-listers missing Afghanistan series

Injuries and workload management remain usual topics of discussion after each IPL season, with several first-team players often rested or absent for the next series. With IPL 2026 concluding in the next 11 days, the selectors have already picked squads for the one-off Test against Afghanistan and a three-match series that follows, starting June 6. While the selectors have rested ace quick Jasprit Bumrah, and two all-rounders, Ravindra Jadeja and Axar Patel, number one T20I bowler Varun Chakaravarthy will miss the three ODIs due to a fractured toe; the reports of Arshdeep Singh bowling through niggle have also surfaced online.

Non-stop cricket has taken a toll on every player, at least on those who are circling across formats and on the road since January this year. Mumbai Indians captain Hardik Pandya and veteran opener Rohit Sharma also missed a few games for their IPL franchise this season due to respective injuries, with frontline spinner Kuldeep Yadav also losing his zip in IPL 2026.

Answering doubts about regular injuries to A-listers and how they impact squads and performances in the international series that follows, the BCCI secretary Devajit Saikia said the BCCI cannot micro-manage players during the tournament. Speaking with the Times of India (TOI) in Guwahati, Saikia said during the IPL, the franchises are the ones taking care of the players’ injuries and fitness.

"BCCI can't micro-manage the workload and fitness of the players during the IPL. We can't micro-manage the workload and fitness of the players during the IPL, because otherwise, it will be interference in the functioning of the franchises by the BCCI regarding the activities of their teams and players," Saikia said in a chat with TOI.

“So far as the IPL is concerned, the franchisees do take care of the injuries and the fitness of the players. Of course, our physios from the Centre of Excellence (in Bengaluru) are also monitoring them, giving them the workload as well as the plan for how to keep them fit. So, there is monitoring, but we cannot interfere too much when the IPL is going on.

“Had it been the Indian team's situation, our control would have been more. Now, we are giving that freedom to the franchisees to take a call on their players, and we definitely look into their fitness level when it comes to selecting the national team,” Saikia stated.

Check Team India’s Test and ODI squads for the Afghanistan series –

Test Squad - Shubman Gill (captain), Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul (vice-captain), Sai Sudharsan, Rishabh Pant, Devdutt Padikkal, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Washington Sundar, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna, Manav Suthar, Gurnoor Brar, Harsh Dubey and Dhruv Jurel

ODI squad - Shubman Gill (captain), Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer (vice-captain), KL Rahul, Ishan Kishan, Hardik Pandya, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Washington Sundar, Kuldeep Yadav, Arshdeep Singh, Prasidh Krishna, Prince Yadav, Gurnoor Brar and Harsh Dubey