Zaheer has bruised heel: Vengsarkar

[King]

India's chairman of selectors Dilip Vengsarkar said on Tuesday that pace spearhead Zaheer Khan was left out of India's Twenty-20 World Championship squad to recuperate from a heel injury. More... Zaheer has bruised heel: Vengsarkar August 07, 2007 21:24 IST India's chairman of selectors Dilip Vengsarkar said on Tuesday that pace spearhead Zaheer Khan [Images] was not selected for the Twenty-20 World Championship because he needs rest to recuperate from a heel injury. "Zaheer has been rested. He has a bruised heel and will require at least three weeks' rest," Vengsarkar said. He termed Mahendra Singh Dhoni's [Images] appoinmtment as captain of the Twenty20 team as the "right choice". "We thought that he's captaincy material. He is in good form and we thought that he was the right choice," said Vengsarkar.

• No fear of failure, says Dhoni

The former India captain said there is no problem with S Sreesanth's [Images] attitude and the Kerala [Images] pacer has been given a "break" from the ODI series against England [Images]. "He has been given a break from the one-day series against England but he is there for the Twenty20 World Cup." To a query on Munaf Patel's [Images] comeback, he said, "Manaf is fit and bowling well." Explaining the recall of stars like Virender Sehwag [Images] and Harbhajan Singh [Images], Vengsarkar said, "It is important to have experience. These players have done well in the past and they are in good form now." On Irfan Pathan's [Images] return to the side, he reasoned, "He is bowling well at the moment. He can bat and he can bowl."

[King]

On Irfan Pathan's [Images] return to the side, he reasoned, "He is bowling well at the moment. He can bat and he can bowl."

I'm convinced Vengsarkar doesn't keep an eye on the fringe players and how they are doing. Pathan is struggling against the likes of Zimboks and Kenya. In fact he has struggled to score runs too let alone take wickets.

[gator]

He is the worst selector, I have seen this decade.... our cricket slipping back to the days when Noel David(a useless offie) was sent in to replace Srinath on a windies tour.. his list of retarded moves is getting longer and longer...

[Guest BossBhai]

-- Removed on request of the user --

[Ram]

I wonder , if we do an actual analysis of India's performance after Vengsarkar took over , how it would like . As far as i can remember , we won one day series' against Sri Lanka , West Indies , South Africa and Bangladesh. In all probability , we shall win the odis against England too. We won the tests against B'desh and at the least will draw against Bangladesh. We also came close to winning a series in South Africa.The only BIG blot was the world cup. What are you guys complaining about ? :D

[THX_1138]

I wonder , if we do an actual analysis of India's performance after Vengsarkar took over , how it would like . As far as i can remember , we won one day series' against Sri Lanka , West Indies , South Africa and Bangladesh. In all probability , we shall win the odis against England too. We won the tests against B'desh and at the least will draw against Bangladesh. We also came close to winning a series in South Africa.The only BIG blot was the world cup. What are you guys complaining about ? :D

i was gonna say the same thing... i think irfan has a lot to offer and at times, showing faith in a cricketer can do miracles to his morale. some posters here are trigger happy blamaholics ready to accuse and malign at the first sign of disagreement with their decisions.

[Ram]

I would definately want to do an analysis of India's performance in the last 7-8 months after this english tour. The results could throw up some surprising conclusions. And you are right THX. hardly anyone batted an eyelid when Ganguly was selected. It wasnt as though he was rattling off one century after another then.

[King]

i was gonna say the same thing... i think irfan has a lot to offer and at times, showing faith in a cricketer can do miracles to his morale. some posters here are trigger happy blamaholics ready to accuse and malign at the first sign of disagreement with their decisions.

Are you talking about yourself? Looks like you are keener blasting the co-posters just because you like a particular player. First things first, you should look up the scorecard of the A team against Zimbabwe and Kenya. When was the last time Irfan Pathan performed well with either bat or ball? Irfan Pathan's returns against Zimboks and Kenya so far : Batting : 71 runs @ average of 17.75 Bowling : 8 wickets for 243 runs @ an average of 30.37 It is ridiculous to suggest Pathan is in good batting form. That coming from the chairman of selectors sounds pretty naive. Simply put they had his name in the list already. If Vengsarkar said Pathan was a good player I wouldn't have a problem but to say he is having a good time with the ball and also can bat is pretty rich.

[Ram]

First things first, you should look up the scorecard of the A team against Zimbabwe and Kenya. When was the last time Irfan Pathan performed well with either bat or ball?

Ravi , I disagree with you on that. Irfan Pathan is a PROVEN performer on the international level. He does NOT have to score runs and take wickets at the domestic level to prove he is good enough to play for India. Trust me . if he were playing in Indian team now , it might not even take him a couple of matches to put in a good performance. Besides , Irfan pathan was NEVER an outstanding performer at the domestic level. He was picked based on his talent and that talent delivered. Surely , his talent hasnt gone anywhere. What went missing was confidence due to mental scars from repeated failures. The time he has spent away from all the glare would have helped him to get his bearings back . What i am essentially trying to say is , proven performers should not be considered with the same yardstick as an unknown player. Ganguly hardly scored any runs when he was dropped. Yet , he was picked for his pedigree and look what is happening. The same could be said of Sehwag. An Indian team with Irfan Pathan is atleast 10% more dangerous.

[King]

I've updated my post above if you can please read again. What did Vengsarkar say about Irfan in the first place? He said Irfan is in good bowling form and can also bat. I've produced the stats of his recent form and there is nothing to suggest Vengsarkar has even glanced at Irfan's performances. What good is a chairman of selector if he doesn't know about a player's current form? It is not like Irfan was hard done by the Indian team management. They did give him a lot of opportunities and I hope he does make a good come back. For now it looks like he has hit nadir as for his bowling and batting goes. He had a great opportunity in South Africa to come good in bowler friendly conditions but he faltered. He was among the most expensive bowlers in the South Africa ODI series and he only had one decent bat in the games he played.

[Ram]

I couldnt care less what Vengsarkar has to say about Irfan's selection and the reason he gives to justify it. All i want is Irfan back in the team. I am sure Irfan will deliver once he is back. The guy has too much pedigree. After all at one point, he owned the world when he was 22.

[Predator_05]

Pathan's situation is worrying. The Zimbabwean batsmen couldn't even touch his deliveries during the '05 series. However on this tour, against inferior opposition, he has struggled to pick up wickets, which indicates to me that he still hasn't recovered the swing which made him an indispensable strike-bowler at international level. His bowling was all about swing and accuracy, and both skills gradually deteriorated to the point where he became free runs. Judging by his recent performances in Kenya, I don't think a whole lot has changed yet. If Pathan was swinging it, the Kenyans wouldn't be able to play him. He is still a work-in-progress as far as his action is concerned and i for one, would rather see him play some first class cricket before returning to the Indian side. Like Zaheer Khan, he should be able to take wickets for fun in first class cricket. Let him find his bearings and then bring him back.

[The Outsider]

Pathan was our minnow basher. Seeing that he can't do a good job of that, his utility is limited.