India in South Africa: Sachin Tendulkar’s injury adds to India’s woes
India’s joy after winning the nail-biting second One Day International against South Africa at the Wanderers was cut short when the tourists found out that their premier ODI batsman Sachin Tendulkar is set to go home after sustaining a
muscular injury during his short innings in the match.
At the post match press conference, Indian captain http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Mahendra-Singh-Dhoni-c73820 stated that he did not know who Tendulkar’s replacement would be. He stated that the visa process plus the travelling time means that the replacement player would not
be able to make it to http://www.senore.com/Cricket/South-Africa-c757 in time. Dhoni added that the team management would have to search for an opener from the available batsmen.
“We will have to open with someone,” he said. “I don't know what's happening, whether we are getting someone from http://www.senore.com/Cricket/India-c750 [as replacement] or not. The visa will take three days at least, he will take the next flight, and by the time he comes
here we will have just one match left. I don't know who will open.”
At the same time, Dhoni added that the opening batsman Murali Vijay’s lack of form is a concern for the team especially after Tendulkar’s injury. “Vijay is looking a bit out of form, but he's working well in the nets. Form is just a matter
of a few strokes. Once you get those few strokes, all of a sudden you feel back in form,” he said.
Dhoni also added that the bowling department was also bogged down with injuries and therefore, the fast bowlers would have to be rotated for the remainder of the series.
“We will have to see what kind of niggle a bowler is having, and accordingly we will decide,” Dhoni said. “Of course right now we don't have too many fast bowlers to choose from when it comes to the one-day side. You have two bowlers outside,
Ishant and Sreesanth, who have not played a lot of ODI cricket recently. This series is important, but I don't want any bowler to get an injury just because of over burden. We will try to avoid it because World Cup is big for us, but at the same time this
series is important.”
Another concern for the Indian camp is the injury to Dhoni himself. The Chennai Super Kings captain has suffered bruising on his shin and might have to sit out one or two games.
The situation is becoming complex for the Men in Blue as the ICC World Cup 2011 starts on 19
February with India playing the opening match against co-hosts http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Bangladesh-c747. With the paucity of resources in South Africa, the tourists would have to try to keep all their players fit for the premier tournament.
However, the absence of Tendulkar, http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Gautam-Gambhir-c58623 means that the camp does not have many options for the next three matches against the Proteas.
The last three matches of the series would be played at Cape Town, Port Elizabeth and Centurion. The three venues would have strong Indian support which might help the Indians on the tour.
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