Reports: Shardul Thakur to be questioned by MCA for training outdoors

The coronavirus pandemic has been really tough for the entire world. However, cricketers and other sportspersons have struggled to keep themselves fit during this time. With limited resources at home and not being allowed to go outside, players haven’t found a way to keep their daily outdoor practise going on. However, as the fourth phase of lockdown was announced by the Indian government, some restrictions were let off.

During the new phase of lockdown, players were allowed to go and train at the stadium but only behind closed doors. However, it seems that the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) hasn’t taken this thing quite nicely. Recently, Indian pacer Shardul Thakur was seen training outdoors.

The recent reports in Mumbai Mirror suggest that the fast bowler will be questioned by Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA) for resuming training during the lockdown. BCCI had not allowed any player from training outdoors which is why Thakur has landed up in trouble.

MCA not happy with Shardul Thakur as he is a contracted player: Reports

The right-arm pacer trained in Palghar district. Even though, this part of Maharashtra was not in the red zone, the board hasn’t allowed anyone from taking training outdoors. The reports which have surfaced suggest that action will be taken against Thakur and three other players who have trained outdoors during the lockdown. The state of Maharashtra is the worst-hit in all of India. The state has seen more than 60,000 cases of COVID-19.

The fact that Thakur is a centrally contracted player by the BCCI makes the focus shift to him. The fast bowler has received a grade C contract by the BCCI. His salary is INR 1 crore per year. The pacer has played one Test, 11 ODIs and 15 T20Is. As he has been contracted to BCCI, the guidelines provided by the apex board apply to him directly. This is the reason why the board (MCA) was not impressed when the news of Thakur training outdoors came out.

BCCI has not revealed when the training will resume for the contracted players. The first priority of the board is to clear at the bio-secure environment for the player which is safe enough to resume cricket sessions. Players will need at least one to two months to be fully fit to make their return to the highest level. There are also reports that BCCI could stage the IPL 13 in September or after that. However, there is no information on when the board plans to restart the training.