‘Can't afford guys coming in here half-fit’ - Rohit Sharma on importance of players' fitness after coming out of NCA

Team India suffered a massive blow against Bangladesh in the second of the three-match ODI series after losing the contest by 5 runs and series 0-2. The Indian skipper Rohit Sharma, who nearly took the game away from the Bangla Tigers despite enduring an injury, stressed the importance of players returning from the National Cricket Academy (NCA).

Rohit spoke with former cricketer Anjum Chopra about players sustaining injuries and receiving the green signal from the NCA by clearing fitness tests.

"I mean there are definitely a few injury concerns. We need to try and get to the bottom of it. I don't know what exactly it is. Maybe they're playing too much cricket. We need to try and monitor those guys, because it's important to understand when they come for India, they need to be a 100%, in fact more than 100%," said Rohit following narrow defeat to Litton Das and Co.

Rohit Sharma addresses injury blows in the squad

Team India will lose out on the services of Rohit, Deep Sharmaak Chahar, and Kuldeep Sen in the third ODI against Bangladesh due to their respective injuries. Rohit picked up a thumb injury while fielding in the second ODI match, Sen endured back stiffness while Chahar hurt his hamstring which will keep them on the sidelines. Recently, Washington Sundar and Chahar had extensive stays at the NCA and the skipper addressed the concerns of the injuries and stated that the side cannot afford to have ‘half-fit’ players.

"It's something we have to look at. We have to sit with our team back home at the NCA as well and try and monitor their workload. That is something we need to look at. We can't afford guys coming in here half-fit and representing the country. There's huge pride and honour in representing the country and if they're not fit enough, it's not ideal. Having said that, we just need to get to the bottom of it and find out what exactly is the reason behind this," Rohit added.