08 August,2011 07:44 AM IST | | Clayton Murzello
BCCIu00a0takes 15 days to rule out fast bowler Zaheer Khan for 14 to 16 weeks
The best team in Test cricket is nothing short of an embarrassment. Correction: A joke.
Yesterday, the BCCI revealed that Zaheer Khan has been ruled out of the tour, more than a fortnight of speculation and innuendo over his recovery.
India pace spearhead Zaheer Khan during a training session ahead of the
second Test against England at Trent Bridge in Nottingham recently.
Zaheer has been ruled out of the ongoing series against England due to
an ankle injury.
pic/Getty Images
Apart from a hamstring injury, he also has an ankle injury. Ankle injury? Since when? He also requires surgery.u00a0
The media release doesn't even say when the injured fast bowler will leave the team.
When Zaheer limped off on Day One of the Lord's Test on July 21, official word from the team management was that he may be able to bowl in the second innings. A hamstring injury remember!
The left-arm fast bowler as expected, did not return to bowl in the second dig.
When the Indian team travelled to Nottingham for the second Test, Zaheer's unavailability for the Test was made official only on match eve by skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni when there were next to zero indications of his recovery. Move over Secret Service, learn from our cricket set-up.
Not convincing
Before the tour game at Northampton, Zaheer didn't look convincing when he went over to the ground with bowling coach Eric Simmons.
He played the tour game and limped off.
Yesterday, the BCCI namedu00a0 Rudra Pratap (RP) Singh as Zaheer's replacement. What were the BCCI and team management waiting for? Why couldn't a fast bowler be called in as cover for a serious injury at least by the start of the second Test?u00a0 The new man would have played the tour game at Northampton to be ready in a Zaheer-out-tour scenario in the third Test.
The pace attack of Ishant Sharma, Praveen Kumar and S Sreesanth cannot be the same if India are to be a threat to the Englishmen. RP must play, but can he come in straight into a Test match? Fast bowlers are of a different breed, but they are human too.
By the way, have you heard the joke about Zaheer being picked in the one-day side the other day? Another joke isu00a0 the BCCI in their supreme wisdom, did not send a selector for the tour. Poor little rich Board!
No respect
Sure, the BCCI are answerable to no one, but where is the respect for the various stakeholders of the game? England and the rest of the cricketing world are laughing at our current cricketing prowess, problems and position (No 1 in Tests in case you forgot).
The media are treated as pariahs. The last time they were addressed in a match-related interaction was on the day of the embarrassing Nottingham defeat on August 1.
No insight
Neither skipper Dhoni nor a senior member of the squad were sent to provide an insight as to what the World No 1 Test team are doing to salvage their reputation and the more importantly, the country's pride.
Not much can be read into tour games, but the fact is that a club standard side like Northants scored more runs than India on Saturday. India's intensity on the field did not reflect international class.
Cricket is a funny game where a turnaround can be just round the corner. But India look like they have jumped off a running train, fallen on sharp stones and are a few fence-jumps away from seeing what a road looks like.
