Yuvraj out of first test against SA, Dravid doubtful

By Rahul Bajaj
for Cricketain.com

Published: January 27, 2010

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Yuvraj out of first test against SA, Dravid doubtful thumbnail

Mirpur: India has suffered a major jolt before the key test series against South Africa to be played next month, with two of their middle-order mainstays, Rahul Dravid and Yuvraj Singh, being doubtful starters for the first test of the series, said the Indian coach Gary Kirsten on Tuesday.

“Yuvi (Yuvraj) will be out for a while. He would be struggling for the first Test (against South Africa). And for Dravid, he is also not sure. It is a bit of concern because we want a full strength side against South Africa,” Kirsten said.

Dravid is suffering from a fractured cheek bone, an injury he incurred during the ongoing second test against Bangladesh when a Shahadat Hossain delivery hit him on the face, forcing him to retire hurt. Yuvraj too has a ligament tear in his left wrist, which ruled out his further participation in the ongoing second Test against Bangladesh and he didn’t come out to bat in the first innings of the second test.

“It is a difficult situation we are in. But you cannot do anything about injuries. It’s out of our control. We have to wait and watch what stands for these players in the few days ahead,” Kirsten said.

The South African, however, assured that Sachin Tendulkar was fine, putting an end to reports that Sachin has hurt his shoulder. “Sachin is all right, he is fine,” said Kirsten. Tendulkar had fallen badly on his shoulder while trying to catch Tamim Iqbal off Virender Sehwag.

Kirsten said that despite their injuries, Dravid and Yuvraj would not be sent home. “It was quite a nasty hit on Rahul and we have to see if he needs to consult a specialist. He is not going back now. Yuvi had torn cartilages on his left wrist but he will also stay back,” Kirsten said.

Looking back at India’s performance in the ongoing second test, Kirsten conceded that his bowlers were not too impressive on the third day. “We did not bowl as good as we can though the wicket is not easy for the bowlers. After taking 300-plus lead, you want early breakthroughs and knock the opposition down as soon as possible. There might have been some impatience,” he said.

Bangladesh rode on a blistering knock by Tamim Iqbal, who scored the fastest century for any Bangladeshi batsman, and a record 200-run stand between Iqbal (151) and Junaid Siddique (55) to reach 228 for three, having lost two quick wickets in the final session.

“We are happy that we got two quick wickets towards the close. We did well towards the close of play. Zaheer Khan was getting reverse swing from his final overs. The wicket will deteriorate tomorrow and hopefully it will assist the spinners,” Kirsten added. “We are leading by 83 runs and we want to get early wickets tomorrow morning. There are two more days to go and we are backing ourselves to win the game.”

Asked about Tamim Iqbal’s aggressive 151, Kirsten said, “He is an aggressive player. We have Virender Sehwag like him. It is good for your team. An aggressive player at the top of order can damage the opposition but knocking off quick runs early on.”

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