Sehwag felled by ball in nets, skips training

Virender Sehwag

BANGALORE,  (Reuters) – Virender Sehwag, India’s  in-form batsman, suffered an injury scare in a practice session  today when he was struck on the left side of his ribs in the  nets two days ahead of a World Cup showdown with England.
Sehwag, who hit a magnificent 175 in India’s opening victory  over Bangladesh in Dhaka, was struck in the lower portion of his  rib cage and immediately dropped his bat and fell to his knees.
He was attended to by medical staff on the practice arena  for about 20 minutes before walking off while his team mates  continued their practice at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium in  Bangalore.

Virender Sehwag
Virender Sehwag

An Indian team spokesman said later that Sehwag’s injury was  not serious enough to require a trip to the hospital for scans  but added that he was being kept “under observation” in the  stadium and being treated with ice.
“He will take no further part in training today. It’s just a  precautionary measure. I don’t know about tomorrow,” Indian team  manager Ranjib Biswal told Reuters.
An Indian cricket board (BCCI) statement said later that it  expected the batsman to be fit to play England.
Sehwag had already been struggling with a knee injury which  forced him to play with a runner for a major part of his innings  against Bangladesh in the tournament’s opening match last  Saturday.
Sehwag had skipped practice for two straight days after the  knee injury.

INJURY SCARES
Host nation India, pre-tournament favourites to win the  World Cup, are battling a series of injuries to key players.
Sehwag is the second batsman to be added to the injury list  after batsman Yuvraj Singh was hit on his hand by bowler  Shanthakumaran Sreesanth in practice on Thursday.
The explosive middle-order batsman, however, showed no  after-effects in training on Friday as he went through the  entire practice session in the day, including batting and  bowling.
India are already without the services of pacer Praveen  Kumar, who had to pull out of the tournament at the last minute  after failing a fitness test.
Over the weekend, Sehwag’s opening partner, Sachin  Tendulkar, underwent a scan after he complained of a slight pain  in his left knee due to an old injury.
The scan was clear and Tendulkar was fit to join his team  mates at the practice sessions in Bangalore.
The England match here on Sunday has already sparked a clash  between fans and police on Thursday after an announcement that  all tickets for the public had sold out.