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The BCCI Secretary Devajit Saikia clarified that the franchises take the final call on a player during the Indian Premier League, while the national board keeps an eye on them. The controversies arose when Kolkata Knight Riders decided to field injured Varun Chakravarthy in a must-win encounter against the Gujarat Titans in Kolkata.

Varun was clearly limping, yet he finished his quota, but he was expensive and wicketless. When asked about how much the BCCI controls a player in IPL, Saikia clarified that the franchises had much more free rein. Speaking to the PTI, Saikia said,

"So far as IPL is concerned, franchises take care of the injuries and fitness of the players. Of course physios from COE (Center of Excellence in Bengaluru) are also monitoring them, workload as well as plan on how to keep them fit.”

Saikia further said that CoE becomes stricter when it comes to selecting players for the national team. He added,

“The monitoring is there but when IPL is going on, we cannot interfere too much. Had it been the Indian team situation, our control would have been more. “Now we are giving freedom to franchises to take call on the players. We will definitely look at their fitness level when it comes to selecting the national team."

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Concerns have surfaced around Kolkata Knight Riders spinner Varun Chakravarthy after he bowled through apparent discomfort during the IPL 2026 clash against Gujarat Titans despite reportedly dealing with a hairline fracture. The Tamil Nadu cricketer completed his full quota of four overs, conceding 47 runs without claiming a wicket and managing just three dot balls in the spell. Throughout his outing, Chakravarthy appeared to struggle physically and was seen limping at multiple stages of the innings.

The development has reportedly caused unease among individuals linked to the Indian team setup, with India scheduled to begin a seven-match T20I tour of Dublin and England from June 26. Although Chakravarthy is not in India’s current ODI or Test plans and the Afghanistan assignment does not involve T20 internationals, worries persist over the possibility of aggravating the injury if he continues to play while not fully fit.

The issue has also triggered debate over whether the spinner should have stopped bowling once discomfort became evident. KKR’s difficult playoff situation has added another layer to the discussion. The defending champions sit eighth on the points table with 11 points from 12 games and remain dependent on winning their final two matches alongside favourable results elsewhere.