Renedy fresh casualty in rough practice session

It's always a pleasure to watch Indian coach Stephen Constantine work. Which is pretty much all the media can do when the hard taskmaster ge...

It8217;s always a pleasure to watch Indian coach Stephen Constantine work. Which is pretty much all the media can do when the hard taskmaster gets into hardcore training mode. His 8216;8216;keep the media away8217;8217; attitude was on at the Salt Lake Stadium on Monday evening as well, as the coach took his wards 8212; two days before the World Cup qualifier against Japan 8212; through the paces.

As far as the practice session is concerned, the emphasis was clearly on the defence. Sameer Naik, captain Debjit Ghosh, Deepak Mondal, Mahesh Gawli and Renedy Singh in photo formed the line from right to left, which later was dismantled with Naik and Renedy changing sides when the team practiced their attacking formations.

Midway into the hard session, the inevitable happened. Everything was going on at such a pace that it almost resembled an actual match, and off a one-on-one challenge, Mahesh Gawli dislodged the ball from Renedy8217;s feet and in the process injured Renedy8217;s right ankle.

Renedy was immediately attended to by team doctor Manab Bhattacharya. 8216;8216;He has a right ankle sprain. The final decision on whether he will be able to play or not cannot be taken before tomorrow. At this moment, I can only say that he is uncertain for the match,8217;8217; Bhattacharya said.

On his part, Constantine said that the injury is 8216;8216;not serious, just a slight swelling8217;8217;. 8216;8216;He walked out of practice as a precautionary measure.8217;8217;

This is bad news, considering the side is already depleted because of injuries to captain Bhaichung Bhutia, veteran Jo Paul Ancheri and young striker Ashim Biswas. Constantine put up a brave front on the issue, saying, 8216;8216;Let8217;s see tomorrow,8217;8217; adding with a wink: 8216;8216;Will you still be bothered after the Japanese arrive?8217;8217;

As practice went into late evening, it was heartening to see Bhaichung turn up at the ground. 8216;8216;Harder! Yaar, that8217;s not the way,8217;8217; Bhaichung hollered. And Constantine, without a murmur, allowed his best player to do what he pleased.

With agency inputs