New Delhi, June 19: The Board of Control for Cricket in India was caught on the wrong foot on Friday after it emerged that many players’ including skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni, picked for the World T20 championship in England, were either injured or carrying niggles.

Physio Nitin Patel, in his report to the board just before the tournament began, had listed five players — Dhoni, Virender Sehwag, Yuvraj Singh, R.P. Singh and Zaheer Khan — as not being fully fit.

The BCCI, despite getting the report before the selection committee meeting in Mumbai on May 4, decided to keep the players in the squad hoping that they would regain full fitness by the time the tournament got underway on June 5.

While Sehwag was pulled out of the squad midway through the World T20 championship, the others played through India’s campaign that ended with a loss to South Africa in the Super Eights on June 16. After the game, even Dhoni had said that many of his players were not 100 per cent fit.

"Sure very few were 100 per cent fit. Some had ankle, some shoulder injury. That’s why they were not in their best in the field. But I am not sure if fatigue is the reason for it. These days you have rehab and can quickly come back to 100 per cent fitness."

The physio’s report had mentioned that Dhoni had a back injury and pacer R.P. Singh had a niggle in his ankle. Sehwag, Yuvraj and Zaheer had shoulder niggles. The BCCI downplayed the physio’s report and said it was "routine" and that the injuries sustained by the players was too minor. "It is a routine report which is given before every tour to assess the fitness of the players. Too much importance should not be attached to the report," BCCI vice president Rajiv Shukla was quoted as saying.

"After getting the physio’s report, the selectors pick players. Sometimes there are only minor injuries and you cannot rule out players for whole tour," he said.