Sachin gives up sprint for marathon

Sachin Tendulkar will not play the Test series in Zimbabwe as he is yet to fully recover from his elbow injury, the BCCI announced today. Ma...

Sachin Tendulkar will not play the Test series in Zimbabwe as he is yet to fully recover from his elbow injury, the BCCI announced today. Maharashtra’s Dheeraj Jadhav will instead travel with the Test players next week.

The decision to pull out India’s most experienced batsman is both good news and bad news for the team. Bad, because it denies the team his ability and experience, and delays Greg Chappell’s match-situation assessment of how best to use Tendulkar.

But in a season with four important Test series, and around 30 ODIs, there would have been little purpose served in rushing back — as he appeared to have done last season — for a series against Zimbabwe.

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Although Indian team physio John Gloster felt that Sachin had progressed relatively well in the past few weeks, he was deemed not yet strong enough to come back and play competitive cricket. In his report to BCCI Secretary S K Nair, Gloster said Sachin ‘‘doesn’t feel confident and strong enough yet to return to the rigours of Test cricket batting.’’

After his surgery in London, in May, the strength component of his rehabilitation plan had progressed well. Earlier this month, Tendulkar underwent a series of examinations under Gloster at the MIG Cricket Club in Bandra (Mumbai), where he had returned to light net sessions facing, among others, Ajit Agarkar and Sairaj Bahutule.

The spotlight is now on Jadhav, who is currently playing in England’s county circuit and will return home on Friday. The southpaw had been picked for India’s home Test series against Australia but failed to make it to the playing eleven, and also attended Greg Chappell’s camp at Bangalore last month.

When contacted by this paper today, he said he was ‘‘delighted’’ to get the call and believed the long stint in England had kept him in good nick.

	TEN’S TENNIS ELBOW

			• Tendulkar picked up the tennis elbow during the triangular series involving Australia and Pakistan in Holland last July and has, since then, been in and out of the Indian team • He travelled with the team to England for the NatWest Challenge ODI series and the subsequent ICC Champions Trophy but sat out both series • He returned for the last two Tests against Australia and also played against Bangladesh and Pakistan before undergoing a surgery in England in the close season • That operation forced him to sit out the triangular series in Sri Lanka Story continues below this ad

He said his stint in the Test series against Australia was unlucky, as he had to sit out all the matches. Against Zimbabwe, though, he is hoping to get a fair deal, keeping in mind Greg Chappell’s policy of experimenting with all the players. ‘‘I have played there (in Zimbabwe) before and have a good idea of the wickets there,’’ he said.

Kiwis win
Harare: New Zealand had a wake-up call as Zimbabwe redeemed themselves with a brave performance before falling short by 27-runs in the Videocon Cup triangular one-day international here today.

After a tardy batting performance that saw them being bowled out for 238 without completing the full quota of overs, New Zealand encountered a spirited chase by Zimbabwe before being dismissed for 211 in the penultimate over.

Brief scores:

New Zealand: 238 (N.Astle 61, S.Styris 63, D.Vettori 47, Ireland 2-61, Blignaut 4-46, Ewing 3-31) bt Zimbabwe: 211(S.Carlisle 30, V.Sibanda 21, C.Coventry 35, A.Blignaut 50, Bond 4-17, Mills 2-34, Vettori 2-46)