Injury scare for India ahead of T20

DURBAN (Agencies) - India have been facing couple of injury setbacks as they take on South Africa, sans Test skipper Graeme Smith, in the only Twenty20 International match of the tour today (Sunday). In an engrossing Test series, India managed to keep the overall scoreline 1-1 after losing the first, winning the second and drawing the third to maintain their number one status in the ICC rankings. However, the final Test took its toll as opener Gautam Gambhir, who had come back from a hand injury after skipping the second Test, hurt his elbow at Newlands and was ruled out. The other opener Virender Sehwag was already sidelined for the rest of the tour as a precautionary measure due to a sore shoulder which had kept him out of action for quite a few weeks last year as well. The senior batsman has also not figured in an ODI since February last year and skipper MS Dhoni will have to sort out the opening slots as soon as possible. Sunday's match will also see the return of left-handers Yuvraj Singh and Suresh Raina in the middle order. Virat Kohli, who hit three of his four ODI centuries in 2010, and Yusuf Pathan, who cracked his maiden one-day hundred against New Zealand last December, will also return to boost the batting order. Among bowlers, Zaheer Khan and Sreesanth will lead the pace attack, which will also have seamers Ashish Nehra, Praveen Kumar and Munaf Patel. In the spin department, off-spinner Harbhajan Singh will look to continue his red-hot form, while Ravichandran Ashwin and comeback man Piyush Chawla will look to raise their stake before next month's World Cup. South Africa, on the other hand, were dealt a severe blow on Friday when Smith was ruled out from Sunday's match because of hand bruises and the onus now would be on new skipper Johan Botha to inspire the side. Botha will have the experience of Hashim Amla, AB de Villiers and JP Duminy at his disposal, while new batsman David Miller, will also look to boost the side with his youthful exuberance. Youngsters Colin Ingram and all-rounder Robin Peterson will also add freshness to the side and Botha will hope they come good against the 2007 T20 world champions on Sunday. The match will be an emotional affair for the South Africans as the Moses Mabhida Stadium, which hosted the 2010 FIFA world Cup, will have pacer Makhaya Ntini playing his last international cricket match. Ntini will look for a perfect send off by coming up with the kind of pace bowling spell that made him one of the most bankable pacers in the team. Besides, the Proteas pace department will also have Rusty Theron and Wayne Parnell joining Lonwabo Tsotsobe, who created much discomfort for the Indians in the just-concluded Test series. Teams (from): India: MS Dhoni (capt), M Vijay, S Tendulkar, V Kohli, S Raina, Yuvraj Singh, Harbhajan Singh, Zaheer Khan, A Nehra, P Kumar, Munaf Patel, R Ashwin, Yusuf Pathan, P Chawla, Sreesanth.# South Africa: Johan Botha (capt), H Amla, AB de Villiers, JP Duminy, C Ingram, D Miller, Makhaya Ntini, W Parnell, R Peterson, RTheron, L Tsotsobe.

ePaper - Nawaiwaqt