Showing posts with label Zaheer Khan. Show all posts
ICC World Twenty20 - India's fingers crossed over Sehwag and Zaheer
Thursday, June 4, 2009
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| Related Links Player/Officials: MS Dhoni | Zaheer Khan | Virender Sehwag Series/Tournaments: ICC World Twenty20 Teams: India | ||
Despite their handsome victory against Pakistan on Wednesday evening, India are still sweating on the fitness of their two key players Virender Sehwag and Zaheer Khan. Sehwag, who is yet to bat on the tour, is suffering from a niggle to his right shoulder while Zaheer is on the recovery path from the shoulder injury to his bowling arm, picked up in the IPL.
Captain MS Dhoni sounded ambiguous last evening when asked about Sehwag's fitness. "To be honest I don't know. He could be [fit] for the second game, but we will see."
The Indians, having landed last Friday, had a couple of optional practice sessions before playing two warm-up games against New Zealand and Pakistan. Sehwag was present at the first nets session but did not bat and missed out on the practice matches. "The physio is still working on Viru [Sehwag]," a team source said.
Dhoni was more straightforward in his assessment of Zaheer's injury and was optimistic the strike bowler would be back in action soon. "We have seen improvement," Dhoni said. "He has started bowling but I don't know at what intensity. Hopefully he will be fit for the game on June 10 [against Ireland]. Even if he is fit for the June 6 game against Bangladesh, we don't want to risk him for the first game."
Based on their mixed results in the two warm-up games, where the victory against Pakistan offset the initial defeat against New Zealand, Dhoni would look forward to the return of both key men eagerly.
Talking about the grey areas, Dhoni pointed out the weak bowling in the death overs. Against New Zealand the pair of RP Singh and Irfan Pathan leaked 31 in the final two overs. Matters didn't improve much in the Pakistan game too, when the two final overs from RP and Praveen Kumar went for 29.
"We did not bowl in the last two overs once again very well (against Pakistan)," Dhoni said. "We are trying to bowl yorkers and it didn't work out."
Captains and coaches have insisted the initial six overs (the Powerplay) and the final few overs are the two critical points where teams have won or lost matches. In such a scenario, Zaheer's presence becomes crucial with his proven ability to swing the momentum in India's favour at any point in the innings. Ishant Sharma has shown similar potency to strike at all times, but he needs support if India have to stop the opposition from building large totals. Dhoni mentioned he would like to play two specialist spinners but not at the expense of a batsman as the slow bowlers were key on the flat pitches in England.
Even if Rohit Sharma has slipped easily into the opening slot, Dhoni knows Sehwag remains the key with his ability to provide blazing starts, a big plus in Twenty20 cricket. Even if he is reluctant to concede, Dhoni knows only too well the consequences of pushing Sehwag into the middle-order. But he is too smart to reveal his cards and would be happy for the opponents to play the guessing game.
"Frankly speaking, I don't know. It's better to have a problem of plenty than nothing. As of now, I dont know the batting order," was his roundabout reply.
ICC World Twenty20 2009 - Injured Zaheer to miss warm-ups
Monday, June 1, 2009
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| Related Links Player/Officials: MS Dhoni | Zaheer Khan | Virender Sehwag Series/Tournaments: ICC World Twenty20 Teams: India | ||
The biggest challenge for defending champions India at the World Twenty20 is maintaining the fitness of their players. For the moment India are sweating on the fitness of Zaheer Khan, their strike bowler, who is yet to recover completely from the injury to his bowling arm, picked mid-way into the IPL recently. Indian captain MS Dhoni said Zaheer will not be seen in the two warm-up games in the lead-up to the main event, which starts on June 5. A day later, India play their opening game against Bangladesh at Trent Bridge.
"Zaheer is going to miss the warm-ups and we are hoping he will be fit for the first game," Dhoni said during the captains' media conference at Lord's. In another likely setback, Virender Sehwag is recovering from a shoulder injury he picked after the IPL. Team sources revealed to Cricinfo that Sehwag, too, will miss tomorrow's practice match against New Zealand at Lord's.
"Keeping every player fit and maintaining their fitness is going to be our challenge," a senior member from the team management said.
India arrived on Friday evening and have already had two optional net sessions. On Saturday, Harbhajan Singh was the only one missing while today, Zaheer, Sehwag, Yuvraj Singh and Rohit Sharma decided to opt out.
Despite the injury concerns, Dhoni is still quietly confident about India defending the crown, which they won in a fairytale fashion in 2007 after being the last to embrace the Twenty20 format. It was also Dhoni's first captaincy stint. He has pleasant memories, no doubt, but is not getting carried away this time.
Though the majority of his players were in prime form in the recently concluded IPL in South Africa, Dhoni is still wary of the dangers of complacency and injury in the fast-paced Twenty20 environment. He is also not getting bogged down by the pressure of defending the crown. "We are not thinking about the results," he said. "We have just come into the tournament and will take on one team at a time. This will help us rather than thinking what we will look like at the end of the tournament."
India have played five games after their 2007 triumph, winning two and losing three - the last two ending in defeats to New Zealand. Dhoni is unperturbed about the twin losses though. "By the second game, we had got the hang of the local conditions and it ended in a close finish, customary in Twenty20. But now, we are fresh from IPL."
During the IPL, Gary Kirsten, the India coach, had told Cricinfo that mental fatigue could affect the Indians, a view echoed by both Sachin Tendulkar and Dilip Vengsarkar recently.
But Dhoni disagreed, saying the players are now used to the itinerant lifestyle. "Personally I don't think it hampers us too much because we are used to it. We play throughout the year. If you look at the plus point, we are the most experienced side when it comes to the Twenty20 format.
"In the last three years there have been less changes in the side, so we gel well as a team. Almost each individual has played around 80 to 90 games and they come up with ideas. If you have 50 ideas you can pick and choose. We have made loads of difference but we have to keep improving."
Dhoni added that the highlight of India's campaign in 2007 was the positive attitude which helped script the improbable after the first game was washed out. "From then on we were in a do-or-die situation. I think the aggression we showed was particularly important and we backed each other very well. Hopefully it will work for us this time also."
