Inside India’s injury crisis: How constant problems and breakdowns are hampering 2027 ODI World Cup plans

(LR) Harshit Rana, Jasprit Bumrah and Washington Sundar are injured on the England tour. NEW DELHI: Shubman Gill was out of character when he addressed the media after the defeat at Lord’s in the third ODI. The overall calm, mostly composed and always composed captain looked frustrated after losing his third ODI series since taking over from Rohit Sharma ahead of the tour of Australia.The frustration came not from the cricket his team had played in the England series and previous matches, but from the constant bouts of sickness, breakdowns and injuries that hampered preparations and never allowed India to field their strongest playing XI.There has been a fair amount of experimentation and movement in the batting order in trying out combinations, but India’s injury crisis is a serious concern as they approach next year’s ODI World Cup.Ever since the multi-nation event was discussed, the management has been keen to have enough bowling options in place, but both their primary and back-up options, Hardik Pandya and Nitish Kumar Reddy, are camping at the BCCI Center of Excellence (CoE) in Bengaluru.While Reddy was injured during the ODI series against Afghanistan last month, Pandya is yet to feature in an ODI for India since the Champions Trophy final against New Zealand in March 2025. Even Harshit Rana, who is being groomed for the No.8 role, has suffered two injury setbacks in the last six months.

If you look at the first squad that we announced, at least five players did not play this match

Shubman Gill

The spin-bowling department has had its share of woes as Washington Sundar has suffered several setbacks in the last six months: a side strain ahead of the T20 World Cup and a hamstring injury this month. Varun Chakravarthy, who was India’s X-factor in the Champions Trophy triumph, suffered a hairline fracture before a Grade 2 hamstring injury ruled him out of action.To make matters worse, India’s star bowler Jasprit Bumrah played only two ODIs in the series against England and was dismissed in front of Lord’s umpire. This forced Gill to operate with a very inexperienced bowling attack with Gurnoor Brar and Prince Yadav. The skipper did not mince words during the post-match press conference, stressing that the first-choice players remained unavailable throughout the series.“If you look at the first squad that we announced, at least five players didn’t play in that match,” he said after the series loss at Lord’s. “If one player is injured, you look at playing a different combination. If two players are injured, you look at playing a different combination. But if a player is missing after every game, then we are missing a trick somewhere,” he added.Referring to the World Cup, where the team will play 11 matches in a row if they go all the way, the Indian skipper pointed out that the players have not been able to end even short streaks.“When you have the goal of the World Cup, where we have to play 11 games in a row, and here we have players who are not able to finish a two- or three-game streak. So there is a certain limitation where our players are not able to play continuously. They play one or two games, it hurts them and then we are forced to play a different combination that we did not originally plan,” Gill said.

When you keep the World Cup as a goal, where we have to play 11 games in a row, and here we have players who are not able to end a two- or three-game streak.

Shubman Gill

Late girls, sometimes until the morning of the match, made the situation even more complicated.“So keeping all of that in mind makes it a little bit difficult. You come down in the morning and you find a player is stupid. Then it’s almost like, do you want to take a risk? Some player is 80% fit, you’re playing with five bowlers and if that player goes out after five bowlers, who’s going to bowl? That’s difficult. So as a group we need to improve fitness and all that stuff.As of July 20, Pandya, Reddy, Chakravarthy and Rana are at a facility in Bengaluru and Sundar is expected to join the quartet to begin his rehabilitation. Apart from Reddy, the other four were part of India’s Champions Trophy winning team. Apart from Rana, who was injured in the warm-up, the other four were also part of the group that won the 2026 T20 World Cup title. Even the two stalwarts, Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli, have recovered from their hamstring injuries. India will need these five in top form for India to go all out in next year’s ODI World Cup, and they must also ensure that the rest of the squad spends more time on the field than off it.