Vikrant Gupta and Nitin Srivastav clashed on Sports Tak over who is responsible for India’s injury crisis. Srivastav pointed directly at VVS Laxman. Gupta pushed back, saying this is not Laxman’s fault but the coach’s.
The exchange captured a question that Indian cricket has been unable to answer all year. Players keep breaking down. The blame keeps shifting. Nobody owns the problem.
🚨Vikrant Gupta and Nitin Srivastav have had a heated argument regarding the COE.
Nitin Srivastav :- It is VVS Laxman’s fault that players are getting injured.
Vikrant Gupta:- This isn’t VVS Laxman’s fault, it’s the coach’s fault, how are these players getting injured? pic.twitter.com/Bg7oPpniXg
— Indian Cricket 🏏 (@Indiancric1cm) September 4, 2026
The argument is not happening in a vacuum. India has had 15 internationally capped players injured in 2026.
| Player | Injury | Impact |
|---|---|---|
| Jasprit Bumrah | Left knee impact injury, fluid buildup | Ruled out of Sri Lanka Tests |
| Hardik Pandya | Back spasms, left quad strain, right shin | 11 internationals missed |
| Harshit Rana | Lateral meniscus tear, then hamstring strain | Broke down after being declared fit |
| Washington Sundar | Right hamstring strain | Ruled out of Sri Lanka Tests |
| Sai Sudharsan | Right big toe stress reaction | Ruled out of Sri Lanka Tests |
| Nitish Kumar Reddy | Left quadriceps disruption | 8 internationals missed |
| Varun Chakravarthy | Grade 2 hamstring tear | Missed Zimbabwe T20Is |
| Riyan Parag | Right shoulder (post-surgery) | Long-term rehabilitation |
| Aakashdeep | Lower back stress fracture | Bowling at 70-80% intensity |
That is not a bad run of luck. That is a pattern.
Five players from India’s original ODI squad for the England series did not play the final match at Lord’s. Captain Shubman Gill called out the fitness problem directly.
“If you keep the World Cup as the goal where we have to play 11 matches in a row and here we have players not being able to finish a two-to-three-match series… there is some limitation where our players are not being able to play continuously.”
Shubman Gill, post-match press conference, England ODI series, July 2026
Laxman held a press conference on August 9 alongside BCCI Secretary Devajit Saikia. He rejected the blame narrative entirely.
“CoE is not a rehab centre. There’s a bigger responsibility and mandate given by the BCCI. Injuries are part and parcel of any player’s career… we don’t use the term blame; then we will be trying to find scapegoats.”
VVS Laxman, press conference, August 9, 2026
He described what the COE does: clinical assessment, strength and conditioning, skill work, load building, and two return-to-play matches before clearance. He said coordination between the COE, team management, and selectors is “brilliant.”
The problem with that claim is the vacancy sitting at the centre of the entire operation.
The Head of Sports Science and Medicine at the COE has been empty since Nitin Patel resigned in March 2025. That is 18 months without the person responsible for overseeing every return-to-play decision, every training load calculation, and every fitness clearance.
Laxman admitted the search has failed repeatedly. Andrew Leipus withdrew citing family reasons. A leading Australian candidate pulled out over relocation concerns. The All Blacks’ sports science head backed out at the last minute. Five candidates were shortlisted. None took the job.
The vertical heads at the COE have assumed additional responsibilities. But the position exists because the decisions it covers require specialized, senior leadership. Without it, the system runs on workarounds.
Sunil Gavaskar identified a specific technical failure in the training methodology.
“Bumrah is suffering from a knee injury, but other cricketers have sustained hamstring issues. There is something wrong with the training, and that’s why there are so many hamstring injuries.”
Sunil Gavaskar, September 2026
He added that it is “key for a player to be match-fit rather than gym fit.” That distinction matters. Players pass standardized benchmarks like the Bronco Test and 2km run but break down in match conditions because the physical demands are different.
The BCCI itself questioned physio Kamlesh Jain about declining fitness levels. Management told him he “shouldn’t worry about any player’s stature and flag anything that he doesn’t find satisfactory.”
The problem had reached the point where senior batters were struggling to run between wickets after extended batting. Some players were given “comfortable targets” to pass fitness assessments rather than meeting uniform standards.
The Real Source of the Damage
A BCCI COE source revealed where the damage starts, before players even reach Laxman’s facility or Gambhir’s dressing room.
“Players play through injuries during IPL due to franchise and financial pressure and then are dumped onto unsuspecting COE physios.”
BCCI COE source, August 2026
Ten internationally capped players were undergoing rehabilitation at the COE simultaneously. Many arrived with injuries sustained or worsened during IPL 2026, which ended May 31.
Harshit Rana was declared fit, returned to the England tour, and broke down again. Varun Chakravarthy played through visible discomfort during the league before fracturing.
Former India strength and conditioning coach Ramji Srinivasan pointed to another gap. He said the strength and conditioning coaches “need to be made accountable because they are the ones working with the players day in and day out.” He identified screening protocols, exercise selection, and generalized training schedules as systemic issues.
The BCCI called Gambhir, Laxman, and chief selector Ajit Agarkar to Mumbai on September 3 for a review meeting. Captains Gill and Shreyas Iyer also attended. Agarkar joined only virtually. BCCI Secretary Saikia acknowledged the core issue: “Players are having injuries because they have to play a lot of matches.” The board committed to better rest protocols and acclimatization periods in future scheduling.
No new injury management framework was announced. No accountability was assigned. Laxman was given the additional responsibility of coaching India at the 2026 Asian Games in Japan.
Four players, Bumrah, Washington Sundar, Nitish Kumar Reddy, and Harshit Rana, face fitness tests with the New Zealand tour approaching. Whether they pass will determine if this debate stays theoretical or becomes a selection crisis.
Insider Read
The COE without a Head of Sports Science and Medicine is an aircraft without a pilot. The SSM position exists to sit above every vertical head, to make the call when a player’s fitness data says one thing and the team management’s match requirements say another.
Without that person, every contested decision defaults to whoever has the strongest voice in the room, not whoever has the clearest medical picture.
Three world-class candidates withdrew from the role. That tells you something about what the job looks like from the outside: the workload, the scrutiny, the requirement to relocate full-time to Bangalore, the political pressure of clearing or holding back marquee names.
The BCCI is not offering enough to attract the person this system needs. Until that changes, the blame will keep bouncing between Laxman and Gambhir because there is nobody in between to own the decisions that actually matter.
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