Walking Wounded

Another casualty: S Sreesanth is facing injury trouble too

The latest to join the injury bandwagon is paceman S Sreesanth, who is extremely doubtful for the Kanpur Test after hurting his bowling shoulder. Sources in the Indian team confirmed Sreesanth was in extreme pain.

Sreesanth did not bowl at all while skipper Anil Kumble and Harbhajan Singh didn’t attend the strenous practice session of the Indian team at the Motera stadium here after their three-day loss to South Africa in the second Test a couple of days ago.

Nursing station

Kumble is nursing a groin injury while Harbhajan was down with a stomach bug. Interestingly, BCCI secretary Niranjan Shah said only Kumble and Ishant Sharma will undergo a fitness test on the eve of the Kanpur match before the squad is reduced to 14 men.

Sreesanth looked in discomfort even while batting, with speculations about M S Dhoni’s fitness as well. Dhoni batted in the nets but did not take part in the fielding drills, raising more than a few eyebrows. Recalled paceman Munaf Patel joined the members of the Indian squad, who practiced in tempeatures over 44 degrees celcius for almost four hours, while Ishant Sharma will join the squad in Kanpur.

The fit twelve

Twelve members of the Indian team turned up on Monday, starting off with ground fielding and catching drills. The batting and bowling sessions looked intense, but it was clear that the defeat, which the Indians never expected to be so severe, and injuries have rattled the home team.

With Sreesanth’s injury, the bowling department is looking woeful, and if Ishant is declared unfit, finding an opening bowler would be a huge headache for Kumble. Sources close to the fast bowler said he would return to Kerala around April 14 for the Ayurvedic therapy.

Immense pain

Said the source, “For Sreesanth, it was a blessing that the South Africans declared first thing on day three of the Ahmedabad Test, because he was in no position to bowl. He has hurt the tendons of his right shoulder and is in immense pain.”

No one is sure how Sreesanth got injured here, but the bowler suspects it could be the result of a dive near the boundary to stop a four which caused the injury.

In the afternoon, Graeme Smith’s South Africans also turned up for a hit, but no one from either side wanted to speak to the media. The assembled journalists asked Indian coach Gary Kirsten for a comment, but he said he would speak to the media “after the series.”