Former Indian all-rounder Ravichandran Ashwin has questioned BCCI’s Centre of Excellence and injury management after the T20I series against Afghanistan. Ashwin questioned how Varun Chakravarthy suffered a side strain in the first T20I against Afghanistan despite having so many protocols.

Chakravarkthy was ruled out of the remaining two games against Afghanistan but no replacement was named. Vipraj Nigam then replaced the mystery spinner for the Asian Games.

Chakravarthy had returned with impressive figures of 1-16 in his quota of four overs against the Afghans in the opening game. 

Earlier, Chakravarthy had suffered a hamstring injury in the third T20I against England and he was also troubled with an ankle injury during the IPL 2026.

“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. I know that Varun Chakravarthy was at the NCA (CoE) for the last 3-4 months. We were asking for permission for TNPL, and they did not release him. He should have returned in a month, but he was there for 2-3 months. After taking so many protocols, he got a side strain after one match. That is a little concerning,” Ashwin said on his YouTube channel.

The former CSK player highlighted that a player should be cautious of his training in the gym.

“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. You can certainly be faster with Olympic lifting, your power production also increases, but if you have an injury that does not suit you, the player should also watch what he is doing,” he concluded.

India’s T20I team will next take part in the Asian Games.