Ravindra Jadeja out of T20 World Cup because of 'freak injury' that could've been avoided; BCCI fumes

Ravindra Jadeja will miss the T20 World Cup in Australia this year due to a “freak” injury – one borne out of an adventure activity – that has turned out to be so frustrating and embarrassing for Team India right now that it almost warrants an investigation. At the team hotel in Dubai, where the Indian team was based out of while participating in the Asia Cup T20 tournament, Jadeja was asked to undergo some water-based training activity in the ‘backwater’ facility of the premises. “He had to balance himself on some kind of a ski-board as part of an adventure activity – not part of the training manual at all.

It was absolutely unnecessary. He slipped and twisted his knee badly, which led to a surgery,” sources in the know of developments told TOI. Jadeja flew to Mumbai and underwent the surgery under the guidance of BCCI consultant and senior orthopaedic surgeon Dr Dinshaw Pardiwala.

The question being asked right now is: Was the ski-board activity required? Ahead of a tournament as important as the World Cup, was it necessary for one of Team India’s MVPs to go through an adventure activity? TOI understands that some BCCI officials are already fuming over how the injury has happened. While no official questions have been raised as yet, those in the know say the nature of the injury is so bad and yet freakish that a thorough explanation will become necessary at some point. “What’s surprising here is, Head Coach Rahul Dravid hasn’t ‘lost his cool’ given how the injury occurred.

Ideally, one would have expected Dravid to question this entire process. All said, the bottomline is – India will travel to Australia without Jadeja,” sources add. In Jadeja’s absence, Team India – already out of the Asia Cup – will find itself