Indian pacer Zaheer Khan would not be able to take part in the upcoming three-match test series against Sri Lanka, starting from 18 July in Galle, due to his shoulder injury. BCCI has called up Karnataka pacer Abhimanyu Mithun to replace Zaheer Khan for the test series.
Zaheer Khan returned in action in the recently concluded Asia Cup in Sri Lanka where he took part in all the matches. Now, Zaheer’s injury would be a big blow for India’s unimpressive pace attack which also features Ishant Sharma and Sreesanth, both of whom are struggling to cement their places in the Indian squad.
Abhimanyu Mithun had his ODI debut for India against South Africa in February 2010, but could not yet feature in test cricket. Mithun has been in excellent form in the domestic circuit recently and was the highest wicket taker of Ranji Trophy last season. He got a call up during India’s Zimbabwe tour as the replacement of injured Vinay Kumar, but did not play any match.
In the absence of Zaheer Khan, expectations from Ishant Sharma and Sreesanth would be much more and it is a big opportunity for the two pacers to get their rhythm back and cement their places in India’s test squad.
BCCI has not revealed anything about the reason of Zaheer’s injury and for how long he would be out of action. There is a Tri Nation tournament involving Sri Lanka, India and New Zealand after the end of the test series. India has not announced its squad for the Tri Nation tournament and it is not yet revealed if there is any possibility Zaheer Khan could come back for the tournament.
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