BCCI reviews fitness programme and questions physio ahead of Sri Lanka Tests
On August 6, 2026, the Board of Control for Cricket in India began a review of Team India’s fitness programme ahead of the two-match Test series in Galle against Sri Lanka and both the team management and the BCCI questioned team physio Kamlesh Jain, according to a Times of India report.
Shubman Gill will captain India for the series, which forms part of the ICC World Test Championship 2025-27 cycle. The squad suffered a setback when Jasprit Bumrah was ruled out with a knee injury, and several players have been undergoing rehabilitation at the BCCI Centre of Excellence over recent months.
The report says the board is considering changes to its fitness regime after repeated injuries and what it describes as a decline in overall player fitness. Recent weeks have seen multiple injuries to core members of the side, prompting selectors to make several changes ahead of the Sri Lanka tour.
Team management and the BCCI have questioned physio Kamlesh Jain about the rising injury count and fitness issues within the playing group, the report added. Concerns included players’ mobility and the frequency of soft-tissue problems that have kept a number of players at the CoE.
The report cites observable problems on the England tour, including senior batters finding it difficult to run between the wickets after long innings and a perceived increase in slower fielders. "Kamlesh has been told that he shouldn’t worry about any player’s stature and flag anything that he doesn’t find satisfactory. It has been seen that the mobility of some of the players in the field has been questionable. Senior batters are struggling to push their running between the wickets as they bat longer. The number of slow fielders has increased," the source said.
The CoE is said to be moving toward standardising fitness assessments, with new target times under consideration for clearance. The proposed benchmarks include completing the Bronco Test in "5.15 to 5.20 minutes" and a 2 km running test in "9 to 10 minutes." "The Indian players are not used to the Bronco test. Over the last year, the CoE had set different base parameters for players. It has now emerged that certain senior players were given much comfortable targets to meet to clear fitness tests. The CoE staff had also cleared players like Harshit Rana and Nitish Kumar Reddy to make sure it was delivering players according to team management’s needs," the report said.
The report adds that tightening the fitness framework is intended to help manage workload and reduce injuries amid a congested schedule. It states that improving the system will help players manage their workload and fitness properly and effectively.
The first Test between India and Sri Lanka is scheduled to begin on August 15 in Galle.