Rohit Sharma ‘in danger of injuring himself again’, reveals India coach Ravi Shastri

Rohit Sharma
Rohit Sharma

Team India head coach Ravi Shastri has revealed that the limited-overs vice-captain Rohit Sharma is in ‘danger of injuring himself again’ as per his medical report and has advised the star batsman to not rush his comeback from injury.

Rohit is presently busy with the Mumbai Indians (MI) in their defense of their Indian Premier League (IPL) title in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), where the tournament is being placed. While Rohit remained in rich form with the bat helping Mumbai Indians as the first team to make it to the IPL 2020 playoffs, he has missed the team’s last four matches due to a hamstring injury.

The right-handed batsman who has been a part of India’s Test side as well was in news for wrong reasons due to his exclusion from the touring party to Australia later this month. India are set to tour Australia for limited-overs as well as a four-match Test series for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.

The Indian selectors were criticised heavily for not including Rohit in any of the squads while the batsman trained with the Mumbai Indians in UAE, and criticism was also headed the Board of Control for Cricket in India’s (BCCI) way for not being clear on the status of Rohit’s injury.

India head coach Ravi Shastri has broken the ice on the matter, suggesting that Rohit’s injury is severe than it looks.

Shastri told a Times Now,

“It’s being handled by the people in charge of the medical part of it. We don’t get involved in that. They have submitted a report to the selectors and they have gone about their business. I have no say, neither am I a part of the selection. All I know is the medical report which says he could be in danger of injuring himself again if he is not careful.”

“There is nothing more frustrating for a player than getting injured. Sometimes you know, you want to get out of that room of yours and try and see how quickly you can come back,”

he said.

“And therein lies the grey area. Therein lies the problem where you want to go and play, you want to test yourself. But only you will know at the back of your mind whether you are 100%, whether there is a chance going at it again.”

Shastri cited his own example of paying a heavy price while rushing back to action having not fully recovered from an injury.

“What I fear, I have been through that as a cricketer myself. I finished my career in 1991 when I went back to Australia when I shouldn’t have. If I had taken a break for three or four months, I could’ve played five years longer for India. So, I speak from experience. It is a similar case. I wanted to go. Doctors told me don’t go. It was greed. I was in tremendous form so there was this eagerness to go back. I hope Rohit’s case is not that serious and the same with Ishant (Sharma).”