India’s top cricketers recently underwent a round of fitness assessments at the BCCI’s Centre of Excellence in Bengaluru ahead of their busy international schedule. However, batting legend Virat Kohli was notably absent from the city, instead completing his fitness evaluation in England, where he is currently residing with his family.
According to a Dainik Jagran report, senior players including ODI captain Rohit Sharma, Test captain Shubman Gill, and pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah took part in the tests on August 29. Kohli, who retired from Tests and T20Is earlier this year to focus solely on ODIs, was granted permission to take his fitness test abroad, avoiding travel back to India.
The Indian team last featured in the high-profile five-match Test series in England, which concluded in early August. After an intense season of non-stop cricket, players have been on a well-deserved month-long break, but preparations are now underway for the upcoming Asia Cup 2025 in the UAE.
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The tournament, scheduled from September 9 to 28 in T20 format, will see India kickstart their campaign against hosts UAE on September 10 in Dubai. Virat Kohli is expected to make his competitive return during India’s white-ball tour of Australia later this year, where he could feature in the three-match ODI series alongside Rohit Sharma.
🚨 In a rare move, BCCI conducted Virat Kohli’s fitness test in LONDON 🤯
~ Perhaps first-time in Indian Cricket History that a player got such luxurious treatment. pic.twitter.com/oPu2gf3A46— RCBXTRA (@RCBXTRAOFFICIAL) September 3, 2025
The first phase of fitness testing included Rohit Sharma, Shubman Gill, Jasprit Bumrah, Hardik Pandya, Mohammed Siraj, Shreyas Iyer, Sanju Samson, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Mohammed Shami, Kuldeep Yadav, Washington Sundar, Axar Patel, Varun Chakaravarthy, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Prasidh Krishna, Jitesh Sharma, Abhishek Sharma, Harshit Rana, Rinku Singh, Rajat Patidar, Ravi Bishnoi, Mukesh Kumar, Sarfaraz Khan, Arshdeep Singh, Dhruv Jurel, Shardul Thakur, and Abhimanyu Easwaran. Reports suggest most of these players comfortably cleared the strength and recovery benchmarks set by the BCCI.
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The second phase of assessments, scheduled for September, will focus on players undergoing rehab or preparing for a return to competitive cricket. This group includes Rishabh Pant, KL Rahul, Ravindra Jadeja, Akash Deep, and Nitish Reddy. The BCCI medical staff has already submitted its detailed report on player fitness levels ahead of the packed international calendar.
