Chetan Sharma, the Chairman of selectors, sparked a significant uproar on Tuesday when he revealed private selection procedures involving the Indian team during a TV channel sting operation. Sharma claimed that the nation’s top cricketers are receiving injections to enable them to play even though they are not fully healthy.
The former Indian bowler said that Indian players use injections to speed up their return to match fitness after injuries. “The players are not fit but they take injections to play. They are ready to play even at 80 per cent fitness. They take injections and start playing. Even if they are around 85 percent fit, they will say ‘Sir let us play’ but they are not cleared by the medical team that is where the problem lies. The players always want to play, they never refuse to play,” Sharma said in the sting operation led by a news channel.
“Bumrah could not even bend so what can he do? 1-2 such major injuries happen. Otherwise even at 80 percent (fitness) they are so naughty that they quietly sneak into a corner and take the injection and say ‘Sir we are fit’.”
When asked if the injections are painkillers? Sharma responded, “It is an injection, not pain killer. We don’t even know that they have taken the injection. For painkillers, they need a prescription, it can also come under doping. With regards to injection, they know which injections don’t come under anti-doping.”
Sharma responded to the reporter’s question regarding why the selectors are unable to identify the players who are at fault, “How will we be informed of it? You play a game, stay in the stadium till 6 o’clock, and the team management is present. From there, they ride a bus to the team hotel, where they check into their individual rooms. I won’t have someone watching them all the time to see what they are up to or where they go.”
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