Reports | Varun Chakravarthy nursing shoulder injury; KKR accused of hiding injury from BCCI
KKR’s Varun Chakravarthy, who was named in India’s T20I squad to tour Australia, has reportedly been nursing a labrum tear on his right shoulder and is believed to have played IPL 2020 despite the pain. His franchise, KKR, however, have now been accused of hiding this information from the BCCI.
Days after putting up one of the finest performances of IPL 2020 - a five-wicket haul against Delhi Capitals in Abu Dhabi - mystery spinner Varun Chakravarthy was handed the biggest surprise of his life when the national selectors named in the Indian touring squad for the T20Is versus Australia. Chakravarthy, post the selection, continued to impress and finished his season strongly, ending up with 18 wickets in 14 games at a startling economy rate of 7.10.
However, controversy has now marred the Tamil Nadu man’s selection as it is believed that the mystery spinner is said to have played the entirety of IPL 2020 with an injury. According to a BCCI source, Chakravarthy has a labrum tear on his right shoulder, due to which he is having serious trouble and difficulty in throwing the ball.
“Chakravarthy has a labrum tear on his right shoulder. It generally requires a surgery. He is struggling to throw due to this injury. He did not opt for the surgery because he wanted to play the IPL. He is undergoing rehab currently,” a source told TOI.
Players nursing injuries and playing with niggles are not rare, but in Chakravarthy’s case, however, it is believed that his franchise, Kolkata Knight Riders, did not inform the BCCI or NCA about a potential injury, prior to him being named in the squad for Australia. It is believed that KKR only sent out a report to team India post the conclusion of their IPL 2020 campaign, which was only a week ago.
The source confirmed the same and raised doubts over how Chakravarthy would be able to play in big Australian grounds with his injury.
“This is a clear case of hiding an injury of a player. Even if he is fit enough to bowl, it will be difficult for him to throw in the huge grounds of Australia,” the source added.
Another source, meanwhile, revealed that the 29-year-old mystery spinner has been bowling in the nets at the ICC Academy in Dubai, where all Indian players set to play in the Australia tour are currently gathered and claimed that his condition will be looked into by the team physio.
“Varun has been training with the other players at the ICC Academy in Dubai. He was there at the nets. The team physio must be looking into his condition,” a BCCI source told TOI.