What team physiotherapist Stephen Partridge calls “a longstanding chronic knee problem” has ruled Brian Lara out of the West Indies second Pepsi Cup One-Day International against India in Cuttack today.
Patridge was quick to add that there are no “immediate concerns” for the captain’s availability for the imminent World Cup. But the latest setback substantiates Lara’s stated intention to quit one-day cricket after the game’s premier event ends with the final in Barbados April 28, four days before his 38th birthday.
“After the first match in Nagpur on Sunday, Brian pulled up a bit sore in his left knee and I’ve advised him to miss the match in Cuttack,” Partridge said.
“The one-day form of the game puts far more pressure on his left knee than Test cricket and, with the World Cup around the corner, he is heeding the advice of the medical team,” he added.
Partridge said no decision has yet been taken as to whether Lara would be cleared for the third and fourth matches in the series, in Chennai on Saturday and in Vadodara next Wednesday.
But it would seem prudent for the most important player in the team to do nothing to further aggravate his injury before the World Cup that could well signal a grand farewell to his remarkable career before his home crowds.
Before his recall for his third stint as captain last April, Lara stated he would limit his appearances in ODIs in an effort to prolong his Test career.
Since then, he has played in all the West Indies’ 29 ODIs although a back ailment kept him off the field during Australia’s innings in the first round of the Champions Trophy in Mumbai in October.
Vice-captain Ramnaresh Sarwan led the team in Lara’s absence, the West Indies securing a memorable victory by 11 runs over the eventual champions, the most powerful team in the game.
Sarwan is still not fully recovered from the broken left foot he sustained from an Umar Gul yorker in the final Test in Pakistan December 1 and, in his absence from this series, Chris Gayle will fill in as captain for Lara for the first time.
“It’s an honour to captain the West Indies for the first time,” Gayle said after Lara’s withdrawal was confirmed. “The captain will be missed because he is our most experienced player (but) I’m sure the support will still be there from him off the field.”
“We will have to rally around each other in the middle and get the job done,” the 27-year-old veteran of 155 ODIs added. “It will be another challenge but, as always, you just have to enjoy the game and keep your thinking cap on and continue improving our game,” Gayle said.
Lara’s place is likely to be taken, (on the eve of his 22nd birthday), by Lendl Simmons who made his ODI debut in the series in Pakistan in December.
Partridge had better news on the condition of Dwayne Bravo.
“He is still a little bit sore from his collision with the umpire in the first ODI but he has nothing that will significantly impede his cricket and he will be available to play,” the Australian physio said.
Bravo crashed into square-leg umpire S.L.Shastri on the field during Sunday’s defeat in the first match in Nagpur.
Shastri could not get out of the way as Bravo, at full pelt, tried to complete a diving save to his left. He remained on the ground for a few minutes after the impact before heading unsteadily for the team room with help from Patridge and twelfth man Simmons.
He returned to the field after treatment, bowled four expensive overs (for 41 runs) as Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Ravi Shastri exploded in their unbroken stand of 119 and scored 16 (off 11 balls) in the unsuccessful West Indies chase of India’s record 338 for three.
With Lara out and Sarwan and Darren Sammy back in the Caribbean, when they would have been here but for their different injuries, the West Indies team carries a different look to what is likely for the World Cup opener against Pakistan at Sabina Park on March 13.
Conditions in Cuttack are expected to differ significantly from the bowlers’ graveyard in Nagpur that yielded an aggregate of 662 runs, a record for an ODI in India.
At the Bharabati Stadium, the only total over 300 in 12 ODIs is India’s 301 for three against Zimbabwe in the 1997-98 season. The average is around 240.
The dew factor is always a consideration in night matches at this time of the year in the sub-continent, rendering the ball difficult to grip for the bowlers and handle for the fielders. It puts a premium on the toss.
After a morning net session, conducted with enhanced security following Monday’s airport incident when Indian coach Greg Chappell was accosted by an irate fan, India’s captain, Rahul Dravid, predicted a low, slow pitch that would suit the spinners.
It prompted the inclusion in their eleven of a second off-spinner, Ramesh Powar, to partner Harbhajan Singh. Left-handed batsman Suresh Raina gives up his place as a result.
In Nagpur, the relative containment of the spin of Gayle and Marlon Samuels for the West Indies and Harbhajan and Sachin Tendulkar for India ensured the totals weren’t even higher.
Gayle and Samuels were taken for 104 off their combined 19 overs, Gayle claiming the only two wickets for a bowler, Harbhajan and Tendulkar went for 113 from their 20, sharing three wickets.
In another change for India, Joginder Sharma, an all-rounder who trundles medium-pace, is set to replace the lively but erratic Sreesanth.
This time, Indian television viewers will be able to watch the match – even if most of them will see the action seven minutes behind hand.
The Delhi High Court yesterday ruled that the state broadcaster, Doordarshan (DD), can telecast the remaining three ODIs and one match of the following series between India and Sri Lanka, as a seven-minute delayed feed.
All India Radio, also government-owned, will be allowed to broadcast the matches live.
Coverage of the first match was restricted to cable network station, Nero Sports, owned by Nimbus that holds the rights to all domestic cricket from the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI).
It led to widespread protests, both in Nagpur and across the cricket-dominated country.
The next hearing before the court will be on February 8, when a more detailed and lasting resolution of the telecast row is expected.
If only Caribbean broadcast media would be as interested in regional cricket coverage.
