SA Test squad to face India

[Laaloo]

Graeme Smith, the South Africa captain, has sustained a fracture to the fourth finger of his left hand that could put him out of the upcoming home Test series against India. Smith sustained the injury when he was hit by a Shoaib Akhtar bouncer in the first ODI against Pakistan last month and has aggravated it by playing in the last two ODIs of the same series and the two-Test series in the UAE. "It is the same hand that was injured during the ODI series against Pakistan three weeks ago," South Africa's team manager Mohammed Moosajee said. "It was aggravated by the continuous wear and tear involved with fielding and batting and flared up while he was fielding during the current Test match." Smith was unable to bat in South Africa's second innings in the second Test against Pakistan in Abu Dhabi on Tuesday. The injury has put Smith's participation in the first Test against India, which starts in Centurion on December 16, in doubt. The fracture is a non-displaced one but Smith has a history with hand injuries having suffered four separate injuries to his hands in the last two-and-a-half years. Moosajee said the team doctor had advised Smith three weeks rest but because of his history, the team management was not sure when he would be fit again. "It will be a race against time to get him fit for the Test series against India," Moosajee said. "In our experiences with Graeme, there have been times we said he would need a six-week lay-off and he was ready in four, and other times we said three weeks and it took him longer." Smith broke his right middle finger during the 2010 Indian Premier League, while a fractured little finger on his left hand kept him out of the ODI series in India in February. Mitchell Johnson broke his right hand twice during South Africa's home and away series against Australia in 2008-09. http://www.espncricinfo.com/pakistan-v-south-africa-2010/content/current/story/488694.html

[jusarrived]

I hope not . we have to beat a full strength SA side .

[Sid]

As Kallis once said, Smith really has poppadom fingers,he fractures one every month it seems but seriously,if he is out it will be a big jolt for SA before the series

[Guest BossBhai]

-- Removed on request of the user --

[Sir john]

as news suggest that he is out for first test only.

[Guest BossBhai]

-- Removed on request of the user --

[Gunner_Mania]

I hope not . we have to beat a full strength SA side .

:hatsoff: :hysterical:

[Ram]

Wohoooooooooo! :yay:

[Laaloo]

I hope not . we have to beat a full strength SA side .

Oh please! how many times have SAF beaten us when ZAK wasn't playing?

[Jadoo]

Who gives a sh*t!!!! Smith or no Smith, we gonna take those Saffers done this time.

[King Tendulkar]

:yay:

[Laaloo]

Regardless, Smith is ZAKS bunny

[Andy]

Bad news for us, he is a walking wicket against Zaheer.

[Ram]

He's their main man at the top of the order. He gives their innings the impetus, after which the Amlas and Kallis' come in and build on it. In a limited sense, he does for South Africa, what Sehwag does for India and their middle order is much similar to ours – mostly comprised of classical, old-school type players who wont kill you with one stab to the heart, but will bleed you to death with a million tiny incisions. If he’s missing at the top, that is a big blow to their innings game plan.

[ZodiaC]

Wow.. I take this more like a good omen for us to win series :aha: Who will captain Sa then? Botha is ****.

[ZodiaC]

ya otherwise wat will people think na ... and BTW do the aussies (and other teams) think likewise ? For example in the 2004 BG series at home we were without SRT for 2 tests and Gangs for one test ... and ofcourse there were 13 playing for Aus in the first test at B'luru ... Does that count ? Just curious :hmmm:

:giggle:

[cowboysfan]

i think he will tough it out and play.

[jusarrived]

ya otherwise wat will people think na ... and BTW do the aussies (and other teams) think likewise ? For example in the 2004 BG series at home we were without SRT for 2 tests and Gangs for one test ... and ofcourse there were 13 playing for Aus in the first test at B'luru ... Does that count ? Just curious :hmmm:

I will rephrase it for you . I want to see India beat a full strength SA side , is that a problem too ? for me India is already no1 & deserving for more than a year now ..that way , smith or not , it wont matter & I wud not want to miss out on seeing Zaheer make a fool out of smith again.

[daryl1985]

ya otherwise wat will people think na ... and BTW do the aussies (and other teams) think likewise ? For example in the 2004 BG series at home we were without SRT for 2 tests and Gangs for one test ... and ofcourse there were 13 playing for Aus in the first test at B'luru ... Does that count ? Just curious :hmmm:

What happened in the 1st test with the bad umpiring decisions? Also i heard Sachin was hampered in the 3rd and 4th tests because of his injury? Can anyone shed some light on this. I have only seriously followed cricket since 2006.

[saneindian]

He will be fine. Even if the finger is at 60-70%, he will surely play. This is a huge series, perhaps the biggest SA (or for that matter India) has played in recent times and is being talked about in SA for quite sometime now. Don't see Smith sitting out of it.