New Delhi: Indian pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah has started working on his strength and fitness under Delhi Capitals trainer Rajnikanth Sivagnanam,
as against the general rule of injured Indian players undergoing rehab at the NCA.
Rajnikanth is the same person who had been rejected for the position of strength and conditioning coach back in August and the job was handed to Nick Webb under the Committee of Administrators (CoA). The panel for conducting practical exams consisted of the national selectors and Ranadeep Moitra — owner of the Endorphins Gym in Kolkata and they placed Webb and Luke Woodhouse over Rajnikanth.
“This is not a judgement on Nick in any way, but the process was harder for Rajni than anyone else. I had inquired from a member on the panel who was surprised at the apparent hostility towards Rajni. He was asked to do things by the gym trainer on the panel that no one else was. What was curious was that the person on the panel had not worked at the level that Rajni had worked at. It would be interesting to know who placed him on the panel,” a BCCI official said.
Bumrah’s importance in the Indian set-up is pretty well known and sources in the know of developments told IANS that even the Indian team management didn’t wish to take any chance with his recovery post the stress fracture on his back and that is why he was sent to the UK for consultation.
“Can’t take a chance with one of your best bowlers even though his body was on auto heal mode. So, he was sent to the UK for consultation. We have an important tour of New Zealand coming up in the new year and he will be an integral part of the planning there. So, the team management was very clear that they are happy to wait and have him back at his best in time for the New Zealand tour,” the source said.
