The ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2023 is slated to be held in India from October 5 to November 19.
While hosts India are yet to announce the squad for the quadrennial event, a report published in PTI claims that the 18 players who are in the selection reckoning for the World Cup squad will undergo extensive fitness and medical tests at Alur.
According to the report, these tests are routine in nature and are carried out by the National Cricket Academy (NCA) or BCCI's medical team from time to time. However, it holds greater significance this time around since the ODI World Cup is around the corner.
"Yes, the routine fitness tests of most of the players save those who have just played a series in Ireland will be conducted (Jasprit Bumrah, Prasidh Krishna, Sanju Samson) along with mandatory blood tests," a BCCI source privy to the development told PTI on the condition of anonymity.
As per the report, some of the parameters that will be checked include lipid profile, blood sugar (fasting and PP), uric acid, calcium, Vitamin B12 and D, creatinine, testosterone. There are occasions when Dexa tests are also conducted to ascertain bone density.
"There is nothing new in what all are being done in between the series when players go through a break. They have individual diet charts as per their body type requirement and also customized training module," the source, who has also worked at NCA, told PTI.
“As far as rest and recovery is concerned there is no better way than sound sleep for eight to nine hours,” he said.
"This is a known fact that if it's a deep sound sleep for 8-9 hours, there is always lesser chance of injury," he added.
(With PTI Inputs)