Former India cricketer Ravichandran Ashwin has raised questions over injury management after Varun Chakravarthy suffered another fitness setback, with the spinner ruled out of the Asian Games and India’s home series against West Indies following his return from an earlier injury.
Chakravarthy sustained his latest injury during the opening T20I against Afghanistan. That match had marked his comeback after an injury suffered during India’s tour of England, extending a difficult period in which he also encountered multiple fitness setbacks during the 2026 Indian Premier League season.
Ashwin calls for greater injury accountability
Chakravarthy had spent an extended period undergoing rehabilitation before returning to international cricket. Against that backdrop, Ashwin linked the wider question of injury management with his view that India should increasingly separate its playing groups by format.
Speaking on his YouTube channel, former India cricketer Ravichandran Ashwin said: “I think the time has come to make separate teams for Tests, ODIs and T20Is. There might be cross-pollination of one or two players. I think somewhere down the line there has to be accountability for injury management with the players.”
The proposal would allow a limited number of players to continue moving between formats while creating largely distinct Test, ODI and T20I squads.
Ashwin also addressed the length of Chakravarthy’s rehabilitation period. He noted: “I know that Varun Chakravarthy was at the NCA for the last 3-4 months. We were asking for permission for TNPL and they didn’t release him. He should have returned in a month, but he was there for 2-3 months.”
The National Cricket Academy (NCA) is now known as the BCCI Centre of Excellence (CoE).
Players also have a role in managing training
Ashwin’s concerns were not limited to the systems responsible for overseeing rehabilitation. He also placed responsibility on players to assess whether particular training methods are appropriate for their own bodies.
Drawing on an injury he suffered more than a decade ago, Ashwin said: “As a player, you also have to see that your training method is correct. Am I doing the right exercises? The only side strain I got in 2015 was due to Olympic lifting. After that, I stopped snatching.”
The former India spinner changed his own training after that experience despite recognising the physical benefits associated with Olympic lifting. Ashwin added: “You can certainly be faster with Olympic lifting; your power production also increases, but if you have an injury that doesn’t suit you, the player should also watch what he is doing.”
Chakravarthy misses Asian Games and West Indies series
Chakravarthy was initially ruled out of the remainder of the Afghanistan T20I series, while there had still been an expectation that he could subsequently travel for the Asian Games in Japan.
Those plans were later abandoned, with Vipraj Nigam named as his replacement for the Asian Games. Chakravarthy was also ruled out of India’s home series against West Indies.
His latest absence follows a year interrupted by multiple injury issues, with his setback immediately after returning against Afghanistan bringing renewed attention to how his rehabilitation and return to competition have been managed.
