Whether captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni had committed a mistake by opting to field at Lord's in the first Test against England is no more the prime concern for the think-tank. What is more disturbing is pace spearhead Zaheer Khan's non-availability on the second day owing to a hamstring injury he suffered on Day One.



Questions are also being raised whether the left-arm seamer should have skipped the Test to regain full fitness. Zaheer's club coach (National Cricket Club) Sudhir Naik rubbished the idea of giving the historic Lord's Test a skip. "Why shouldn't he play the Lord's Test? Earlier he had issues with his ankle but the sprain he got was at the back of the thigh. So this injury has nothing to do with his ankle," Naik told MiD DAY yesterday.

The left-arm pacer sprained his thigh while bowling the 42nd over on the first day. After the third ball of that over he was grimacing in pain, which forced Praveen Kumar to complete the over.

Reason
But why did that happen? Naik had his answer ready. "I will tell him not to bowl from round the wicket, that is creating all these issues," said Naik, who is also the curator of Wankhede Stadium.

Asked why he felt like this, Naik explained: "For a left-armer who depends on his swing and angle should not go round the wicket as by doing so he has a conscious effort of going against the motion of the body in the follow-through to avoid treading inside the pitch."

Naik said he would address the issue as soon as possible. "I will immediately speak to him and ask him not to bowl round the wicket for a few months which could even jeopardise his career. "Also there is a chance that he will injure his hips in the process and that can really be dangerous at this juncture," he said.

The coach also trashed any technical glitch in Zaheer. "There is absolutely no fault in his techniques and this happens in cold conditions, but this is not going to rule him out of the series," Naik concluded.
For the record, Zaheer has rolled his arms for 69 overs in this calendar year coming into this Test match.