Fitness of India stars to be monitored in new IPL-BCCI NCA partnership

In a meeting to review men's results in 2022, several key recommendations were made around the management of workloads ahead of 50-over World Cup

India's key players will have their fitness managed during the Indian Premier League in a new partnership between the 10 franchises and the BCCI's National Cricket Academy amid a crucial year for the men's side.

The development comes as part of recommendations to emerge from a review meeting regarding the team's performance during 2022.

Player availability, workload management and fitness parameters were also discussed at length by a six-member panel.

BCCI President Roger Binny, honorary secretary Jay Shah, captain Rohit Sharma, head coach Rahul Dravid, NCA head of cricket VVS Laxman and chair of senior men selection committee Chetan Sharma also approved changes regarding fitness standards.

^{Jasprit Bumrah missed swathes of the year, including the World Cup (Stu Forster/Getty Images)}

Results from the Yo-Yo Test - when individuals cover a 20-metre distance, increasing speed as the time to complete each shuttle is reduced - and Dexa - an imaging test that measures bone density - will now dictate selection.

Furthermore, emerging players will now have to play a substantial domestic season before becoming eligible for selection.

But the most intriguing development comes in the form of the management of India's premier IPL players ahead of a year which is headlined by a home 50-over World Cup and could also include the World Test Championship final.

Following the ODI series defeat to Bangladesh, skipper Sharma lamented the injuries suffered by his squad during the year.

^{India crashed out of the men's T20 World Cup in the semi-finals (MICHAEL ERREY/AFP /AFP via Getty Images)}

Jasprit Bumrah, Deepak Chahar, Washington Sundar and Ravindra Jadeja have all been unavailable for periods of the year.

"We need to try and get to the bottom of it," he said. "I don't know what exactly it is. Maybe they're playing too much cricket. We need to try and monitor those guys, because it's important to understand when they come for India, they need to be a 100 per cent, in fact more than 100 per cent."

The 74-match IPL in 2022 was the longest tournament for nine years. It preceded a Test series defeat in South Africa and was followed by losing the fifth Test to England and being knocked out of the T20 World Cup a the semi-final stage.

Dates for the 2023 tournament have yet to be confirmed but it is expected to follow a similar structure and begin in late March, or early April.