Rahul Dravid, Indian men’s cricket team head coach has reportedly recommended physio Nitin Patel to be transferred to the National Cricket Academy where he will work towards addressing the recent spate of rising injuries to players. He could be promoted to lead the Head Sports Science and Medicine department at the NCA.
The Indian team has been struck by injuries to its star players in recent months including Deepak Chahar, Suryakumar Yadav, Varun Chakravarthy among others. With T20I and ODI World Cups scheduled for back-to-back years, the team management wants to utilize Nitin Patel’s expertise at the academy where injured players are sent for rehabilitation.
Rahul Dravid Wants Physio Nitin Patel At National Cricket Academy To Address Injury Concerns Of Cricketers
The transfer could happen after the end of the second Test between India and Sri Lanka which starts from Saturday in Bengaluru. The BCCI has already invited applications for the posts of a physiotherapist with the men’s team, women’s team and at the NCA.
Currently, Nitin Patel and Yogesh Parmar travel with the Indian men’s team as the physios. However, Yogesh Parmar will continue to be with the team with the vacated position after Nitin Patel moves to NCA to be filled soon.
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Recently several Indian players like Suryakumar Yadav, Deepak Chahar, Varun Chakravarthy, Bhuvneshwar Kumar have sustained injuries and had to be dropped from the Indian squads. India all-rounder Hardik Pandya is already working on improving his fitness at the NCA. With the T20I World and 50-over World Cup on the cards, the BCCI is willing Nitin Patel to help improve the fitness of these key players.
Meanwhile, the second Test between India and Sri Lanka starts on March 12 in Bengaluru. It will be a day-night Test match with the MS Chinnaswamy stadium becoming the third Indian venue to host a Pink-Ball Test match. A 100 per cent crowd capacity will be allowed for the Test match after recommendations from BCCI.