Zaheer Khan Uncertain for Second Test at Trent Bridge; Sreesanth May Get His Chance in England

Zaheer Khan’s absence could be a big blow. But risking him for the second Test and losing him for the entire tour is not the prospect the Indian captain wants to contemplate.

Zaheer Khan

Zaheer Khan’s fitness has raised concerns and red flags all round after the Indian spearhead pulled up with a strained hamstring as early as the second session of the second day’s play in the first Test at Lord’s. The damage was immediately evident as the England batsmen were let off the hook and instead India were forced to contend with having to chase down a huge England target which they failed to negotiate on the final day to lose the Test to give England 1-0 need in the four Test series.

Zaheer Khan’s injury, particularly so early into the match, meant that India had to rely suddenly on just two fast medium bowlers in Ishant Sharma and Praveen Kumar, both making their debut at Lord’s. As it turned out, with the lack of bowling options, eventually Mahendra Singh Dhoni, the Indian captain, even decided to bowl himself to make up for the lack of a third seamer as also, to help with the bowlers getting a breather and improving the much necessary over rate.

It may be recalled that Zaheer Khan was injured prior to India’s tour of England which meant he had missed the Indian tour of the Caribbean following the IPL 4 season, giving him little time to really prove his match fitness, a contentious issue as it turned out in the eyes of many who viewed his breakdown as part of making a straight return to the top notch level.

Fingers are still crossed on Zaheer, but the Indian captain gave a fairly early indication that the mistake to rush Zaheer Khan would not be made a second time. Following the first Test loss, Dhoni indicated that three days was too short a time for the bowler to recuperate given that the second Test starts at Trent Bridge, Nottingham on Friday. He also suggested that a half fit or even an almost fit Zaheer would not be risked. Although India have concerned an early lead in the Test series, Dhoni is naturally treading the cautious approach where he does not want to reveal too early if Zaheer will indeed be fit but it is also quite obvious that India do not want to risk playing him in the second Test and thereby, aggravating an injury that would rule Zaheer out altogether for the tour.

It is a case of walking on egg shells at the moment because on the one hand, the Indian cricket team has looked quite different without Zaheer in the line up and yet on the other hand, they cannot risk going down a bowler if a similar incident involves Zaheer being unable to fully function as he should but couldn’t at Lord’s. The absence of Zaheer is going to be huge for India, but they will have a third bowler in the line up filled up plausibly by Sreesanth. Although not a like for like substitute, it should give Dhoni a bit more to play with, but it is going to need a great deal of coordination and discipline if the trio are to accomplish the idea of compensating for Zaheer. The ideal scenario would be a fit Zaheer Khan in the Indian line up but the proximity of the two Tests makes this predication more difficult.