Zaheer moves a step closer to match fitness

[akshayxyz]

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/sports/cricket/series-tournaments/india-in-england/top-stories/Zaheer-undergoes-ankle-surgery-recovering-well/articleshow/9650871.cms

NEW DELHI: Pacer Zaheer Khan, who was ruled out of the England series due to an ankle injury, underwent surgery last Monday and is believed to be recovering well. Zaheer, who bowled just 13.3 overs in the first Test at the Lord's last month before injuring himself, went under the knife on Monday. "Got the surgery done on ankle on Monday," Zaheer wrote on his 'Twitter' page. In his latest tweet, he wrote, "Recovering well .... getting used to walking on crutches." Zaheer was touted to play a big role in India's fortunes in the ongoing four-match Test series against England but he left the field on the first day of the Test series after bowling 13.3 overs and taking two wickets. RP Singh was called in his place in the Indian side who have already lost the series and the Test number one spot.

Didn't he have like hamstring issue?

[Trichromatic]

# July 2011 - Hamstring strain sustained on first day of first Test against England, at Lord's. Misses rest of series # June 2011 - Right ankle injury rules Zaheer out of Test series in the West Indies # December 2010 - Forced to miss first Test in South Africa due to hamstring injury # November 2010 - Groin strain keeps Zaheer out of third Test against New Zealand at Nagpur, and the first two ODIs # July 2010 - Missed tour of Sri Lanka with a shoulder injury # February 2010 - Zaheer suffers a muscle strain in his leg during the second Test against South Africa, at Kolkata, and missed fifth day of match and subsequent ODI series # August 2009 - Underwent shoulder surgery that kept him out of the Champions Trophy and the home ODI series against Australia # January 2008 - Suffers recurrence of an ankle problem that rules him out of tour of Australia after first Test and the subsequent home series against South Africa # August 2007 - Ankle injury sustained during the 3rd ODI in England keeps Zaheer out of the 2007 World Twenty20

India's Zaheer Khan ruled out of England series with ankle injury.

[akshayxyz]

So were they bluffing abt hamstring? if he was never cured of ankle injury..

[Trichromatic]

So were they bluffing abt hamstring? if he was never cured of ankle injury..

It was the case of hamstring injury and ankle injury. He had problems with his ankle for long time. But he somehow played with it. He got hamstring injury at Lords. During practice match, his pulled out because of ankle injury.

[akshayxyz]

Well what I meant - If the ankle injury was not cured, he should have undergone strict fitness test - leading upto England series. Very unprofessional behavior that. With that, it is difficult to trust the truth of hamstring injury.

[Trichromatic]

Well what I meant - If the ankle injury was not cured, he should have undergone strict fitness test - leading upto England series. Very unprofessional behavior that.

Just goes to show how pathetic team management and selection has been. They have no idea of players fitness. Dravid's return in ODIs, RP's return shows that selectors are blindly naming players without getting enough idea of their current status. This is how the team was expected to compete with highly professional and well-prepared England team. With this kind of attitude, I feel this team doesn't deserve to be called one of the best side.

[Rahul Dravid]

what about Belly injury?

[J P K]

i guess zak will get fit in time for champion league

[veer]

i am afraid it's too late...

[Septimius Severus]

He might as well get liposuction surgery, nom saiyan

[CG]

He might as well get liposuction surgery' date=' nom saiyan[/quote'] Idiots are being too harsh on zak ,he looked slimmer and fitter than sa ,he has had a heavy workload ipl,worldcup and he is main bowler cum coach for india he does all the planning, its unfortunate he got injured ,you can tear a hammy anytime

[rkt.india]

Idiots are being too harsh on zak ' date='he looked slimmer and fitter than sa ,he has had a heavy workload ipl,worldcup and he is main bowler cum coach for india he does all the planning, its unfortunate he got injured ,you can tear a hammy anytime[/quote'] kaun se angle se slimmer and fitter laga yaar....all commentators were pointing out his pot belly and it was obvious to see. This is not new. He is carrying his belly for a long time now. It is just when players or team falter, everyone notices the flaws.

[NareshK]

Dont get me wrong, Zaheer has been the best bowler for India for many years and won many games on his own. But doesnt a bowler who is as experienced as him know about his own fitness ? Why did he have to bowl only 3 overs in a warm up game and then play in the first test ? Why did he stay on till the 2nd warm up game and then again bowled 3 overs and then ruled himself out ? Because he stayed back, another seamer couldnt have been sent in earlier and he was denied important match practice. After he ruled himself out, there was a report which said he will be out for 14-16 weeks. If this injury is so serious, why didnt he leave early ? This whole injury episode is fishy.

[CG]

kaun se angle se slimmer and fitter laga yaar....all commentators were pointing out his pot belly and it was obvious to see. This is not new. He is carrying his belly for a long time now. It is just when players or team falter' date=' everyone notices the flaws.[/quote'] I said fitter than sa. He looked trimmer than sa just compare pics

[akshayxyz]

Idiots are being too harsh on zak ' date='he looked slimmer and fitter than sa ,he has had a heavy workload ipl,worldcup and he is main bowler cum coach for india he does all the planning, its unfortunate he got injured ,you can tear a hammy anytime[/quote'] My gripe is not that how can he pull hamstring. I know it is a common & random thing. But these two things put me off. a) He was out of WI series for ankle issues. He had ankle surgery now, that implies he was carrying ankle injury into Eng series. b) After pulling hamstring, he was out of second test and then there was practice match. In that he took the field only to bowl 3 overs. That level of fitness could have been verified much earlier, off the field, in the nets, on the running track. He/management simply wasted chance for replacement bowler to get a practice match. Who knows RP Singh or even Munaf with good practice match would have contributed better in 3rd test! I am not putting entire blame on ZAK. However, management (esp in India) - gives too much weight-age to players' 'reputation', and expect miracles regardless of present state. In such scenario, as a professional, it becomes even more important for player to be honest and upfront about his match-fitness.

[Trichromatic]

I am not putting entire blame on ZAK. However, management (esp in India) - gives too much weight-age to players' 'reputation', and expect miracles regardless of present state. In such scenario, as a professional, it becomes even more important for player to be honest and upfront about his match-fitness.

I remember Wasim Akram was saying that even with hamstring injury it would take few weeks. When he heard that team will check his fitness, he said that they are probably expecting miracles with his injury. It's clear that he was never fit for the series at all. He was selected just because he was best bowler for the team. He should have been left out of the team after first test. Because he wasn't, it delayed his surgery. Now which means he will get 1-2 weeks less when he actually recovers before the Australia tour. Same thing happened with Sehwag. He delayed his surgery. Played IPL and entered this important series without any practice, that too in 3rd test. Because Zaheer wasn't left out, India didn't have many options. When RP Singh came, he was not match fit. He could have played tour match and done better in this test. Maybe he could have played other tests. Just goes to show how pathetic player management/injury management has been in India.

[achilles]

Zak's fitness issues have got exposed so bad that if he doesn't up his levels and look beyond being fit for T20s, his integrity and priorities will be put to question. Hope he takes the "Zak is always injured" 'baiting' a bit seriously and works on being fit on a consistent basis.

[speed_demon]

India must learn to live without Zaheer: Ganguly LONDON: India have had a disastrous tour and ex-skipper Sourav Ganguly feels MS Dhoni's men need to regroup quickly to give England a taste of their own medicine in the home series. Excerpts from an exclusive interview: What do you feel went wrong with the team in England? India didn't bat well in the Tests. We started off on a bad note by losing the opening match. After the Test whitewash, it was difficult to come back in the ODIs. England did play better cricket, but their real test will come in the subcontinent. However, I wouldn't like to take away credit for their performance at home. If you were captain today, would you have done anything differently? I've always believed that a captain is as good as his team. You can't blame the captain if some of the top players are out with injury. Look what happened to Australia when some of their top players dropped out. Before that, Ricky Ponting was considered the best captain in the world, when the Australians were ruling the roost with top bowlers like Glenn McGrath and Shane Warne. Which young Indian player has impressed you the most? Ajinkya Rahane, to some extent. But even he failed to make full use of the initial starts he got. The Indian team looked ordinary. Basically, they must learn to live without Zaheer. Your aggressive captaincy has often been cited as a reason for India's success in recent years. Are we lacking that approach now? I captained the side a long time ago. A lot of changes have taken place since then. This is a different era, a different phase, but the team is still focussed on winning matches. Any team that can win matches in Australia, South Africa and England has to be good. Is coach Duncan Fletcher doing enough? It's early days yet for him. One can't comment on his performance just yet. Give him some time. I'm sure he'll do well. Can England overtake India in the shorter version of the game too? England are not the best ODI team. India have lost badly to them but their stars will rise again. Fitness is a key issue with this team and I'm sure the BCCI is going to address the issue. We also need good bowlers in all forms of the game to be consistent at the highest level. The selectors should have the eye for new talent. Your contemporaries like Dravid and Tendulkar are still playing... I'm 39. How long could I continue playing? I had my fill and am happily retired from international cricket. Will you be playing in the IPL? Yes. The passion to play is still there. IPL is a domestic league and I still have a couple of years of cricket left in me. Next year, I'll be ready for the tournament and will also play domestic cricket to get in shape before that. Are you looking at a player-cum-coach role at Pune Warriors? I haven't been told anything so far. Are we going to see Sourav Ganguly the TV commentator on regular basis? No. After spending so much time away from home during my playing days, I'm not keen to do regular commentary in every series. Do you have ambitions of becoming a full-fledged cricket administrator? I haven't given it a thought. But I'll try and help the game, and young cricketers, to the best of my ability.

[Sidhoni]

Ganguly is right on! Thats the thing we needed to do after what happened on the first day of the Lords test, we are in a serious need to groom fast bowlers for the future.

[vamos_rafa]

Ganguly is right on! Thats the thing we needed to do after what happened on the first day of the Lords test' date=' we are in a serious need to groom fast bowlers for the future.[/quote'] Unless some youngster really out his hands up. its difficult to expect someone to do so in the midst of a series.