Blow for India, injured Zaheer out of remaining England trip

Northampton, Aug 7 (PTI) India's floundering campaign in
the ongoing series against England suffered another massive
blow Sunday as pace spearhead Zaheer Khan was ruled out of the
remainder of the tour after failing to recover from a
hamstring strain and an ankle injury.
"Zaheer Khan is suffering from a recurrent right
hamstring strain and a right ankle impingement. He will
require a surgery for his ankle, followed by intensive
rehabilitation for both the ankle and hamstring," the BCCI
said in a statement.
"He will need at least 14-16 weeks to recover completely.
He will therefore not be able to participate in the ongoing
Test series and subsequent Twenty20 International and ODI
series against England," it added.
Medium pacer R P Singh, whose last Test appearance for
India was in 2008 against South Africa, has been called to
replace Zaheer in the Test, ODI and the Twenty20 squads.
The limited overs series starts on August 31 with the one
off T20 match.
"The All-India Senior Selection Committee has picked R P
Singh as his replacement in the Indian squads for the Test
series, and the T20 International and ODI series. R P Singh
will join the team at the earliest," the BCCI said.
The 25-year-old R P has been out of favour for quite a
while and his last ODI appearance was in 2009 against Pakistan
in the Champions Trophy.
Zaheer, who walked off the pitch following a hamstring
strain on the opening day of the first cricket Test at Lord's
on July 21, was expected to be fit for the August 10-14 match
at Birmingham.
He played in the just-concluded two-day practice match
against Northamptonshire to test his fitness. The 32-year-old
opened the Indian attack but bowled only three overs,
conceding 24 runs before walking off the field, raising a
question mark over his fitness.
Zaheer's injury setback comes close on the heels of
off-spinner Harbhajan Singh and batsman Yuvraj Singh being
ruled out due to injuries in what is turning out to be a
disastrous tour for India.
On the brighter side openers Virender Sehwag, who missed
the first two Tests due to a shoulder injury, and Gautam
Gambhir are expected to be part of the line-up for the third
match.
The world number one Test side is trailing 0-2 in the
four-match series. PTI PM
KAP