The injury epidemic in India’s pace department meant that the national selectors didn’t have much to choose from when they sat to find a replacement for Zaheer Khan, who is set to return home from Australia following a dodgy left heel. Though VRV Singh was named as replacement for Zaheer, but according to a national selector he wasn’t exactly the obvious choice. “Sreesanth is injured, Munaf Patel is not match-fit yet and even Ajit Agarkar isn’t fit. So we were in a spot of bother to select a replacement for Zaheer. Actually, VRV was the only fit pacer available right now,” he said. The selector went on to assert that the BCCI should give some serious thought to the heavy load on the pace department. “With such a hectic schedule, pacers get injured frequently and we get stuck since we don’t have much to choose from,” he said. Even before the team left for Australia, there were signs that the pacers were not in the best of health. During the final Test against Pakistan, India went in with Irfan Pathan and Ishant Sharma since Zaheer, RP Singh and Munaf Patel were on the injury list. It was said that Zaheer was rested for that game while Munaf and RP were not fit. Zaheer’s mentor Sudhir Naik, who has a long association with India’s spearhead, is surprised by his ward’s return. “When he left he was quite fit. Maybe he sustained this injury there,” he says. Meanwhile, Sreesanth is still confident that he will be fit before the third Test begins in Perth on January 16. After ignoring the doctor’s advice to undergo a shoulder surgery, he has opted to train at the National Cricket Academy (NCA) with Dav Whatmore.
