ICC World Cup 2011: S Sreesanth replaces Praveen Kumar
The Board of Control for Cricket in India on Tuesday confirmed that the explosive fast bowler Shanthakumaran Sreesanth will replace injured pacer Praveen Kumar in the 15-man squad for February’s ICC World Cup 2011.
The decision came a day after the Uttar Pradesh swing bowler underwent a fitness Test at the National Cricket Academy in Bangalore to assess whether he had recovered completely from the elbow injury.
The 24-year-old seamer sustained the injury during a practice session ahead of the One-day series against the Proteas earlier in January 2011.
He had been sent back home immediately as a precautionary measure to undergo treatment at the National Cricket Academy in Bangalore. In a bid to get fit in time, the Meerut pacer had also consulted Dr. Andrew Wallace in London recently but
he could not help him.
The rehab plan, however, did not go as planned and on Tuesday, Praveen was declared unfit for the exhaustive mega event.
The BCCI had maintained that the swing bowler would be fit before the mega event. Sources claimed on Monday that Kumar had been ruled out of the tournament after he failed to perform the tasks he was asked to do in the thorough test session
at the NCA.
Praveen Kumar, since debuting in November 2007, has been a regular part of India’s One-day side and was almost certain to feature in cricket’s flagship event starting in February before the elbow injury ruled him out.
Kerala pacer Shanthakumaran Sreesanth and Karnataka medium-fast bowler Vinay Kumar were the two contenders to replace Praveen in the quadrennial event and the former succeeded to make the cut.
“God has been kind to me, so I am playing the World Cup,” said Sreesanth. “I feel bad for Praveen, hope he recovers fast. I have been working on my game a lot and its been a learning experience, and am looking forward to the World Cup now.”
The other fast bowlers in the Zaheer Khan-led pace attack of India are Ashish Nehra and Munaf Patel.
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