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Journalism of Courage
Indias hopes of winning the three-Test series in Sri Lanka,starting with the first Test in Galle from July 18,suffered a body blow when Zaheer Khan,the pace spearhead and veteran of 72 Tests,was ruled out with a shoulder injury on Tuesday.
20-year-old Karnataka medium pacer Abhimanyu Mithun,currently in England with the India A squad,has been named as Zaheers replacement. It isnt clear how serious is Zaheers injury. There is no indication whether or not the left-arm medium pacer will be fit for the tri-series,also involving New Zealand,which begins on August 10.
Zaheers absence means the fast bowling responsibilities will fall on the shoulders of Ishant Sharma and Shanthakumaran Sreesanth. Both these bowlers havent played for India since February and will be rusty as they havent featured in matches of any note. While Sreesanth played in the Twenty20 Sheesh Mahal tournament in Lucknow,Ishant played in hot weather tournaments in the capital.
Neither of them was picked for the tri-series in Zimbabwe,for which India selected a second-string side under the captaincy of Suresh Raina. Sreesanth and Ishant were also not included in the India A side.,The likes of Munaf Patel,RP Singh,Irfan Pathan havent inspired enough confidence to be picked for Tests but the selectors erred by not picking any of them for either the Zimbabwe series or the India A tour.
India are likely to play only two medium-pacers in Sri Lanka in the Test series,so Sreesanth and Ishant should get the nod ahead of Mithun. Sreesanth and Ishant have a total of 40 Tests between them and in Zaheers absence will have to lift up their game against a Sri Lankan batting line-up oozing with class.
Zaheer,like the other seniors,was rested for the tri-series in Zimbabwe and then played in Indias victorious Asia Cup campaign in Sri Lanka. He took six wickets in the Asia Cup matches,including two in the final against Sri Lanka.
India have struggled to remain a potent fast bowling unit in the absence of Zaheer in the recent past as the selectors havent been able to find a consistent and confident back-up for the senior bowler.
Zaheer had pulled a muscle in his leg and bowled only six overs in the second innings of the final Test against South Africa in February. He missed the following one-day series.
Mithun was part of the Test team for the two Test series against South Africa but didnt get a game. He played his only ODI against South Africa in Ahmedabad. Mithun was summoned to Zimbabwe as a replacement for R Vinay Kumar,who injured his knee. Mithun,however,didnt play matches and rejoined the India A squad.
The three-Test series against Sri Lanka was put together to allow India a better chance to stay at the top of the Test rankings as they were initially not scheduled to play any Tests till the end of the year. India became the No.1 Test team in the world when they beat Sri Lanka at the Brabourne Stadium at the Cricket Club of India,Mumbai,late last year. Sri Lanka are currently ranked No.4 but will fancy their chances of closing the gap with the top-three (No.2 South Africa,No.3 Australia) when they play India,which will be without their main fast bowler.
