Wednesday, May 25, 2011

Question mark over Gambhir's tour to Windies

MUMBAI: Kolkata Knight Riders captain Gautam Gambhir, who injured his right shoulder while fielding during the IPL game against Mumbai Indians in Kolkata on Sunday, is uncertain to lead the Indian team in the ODI series in West Indies starting on June 4.

Gambhir had undergone an MRI scan in Kolkata, the result of which is yet to be analyzed by the cricket board (BCCI). An official call in this regard will be taken on Thursday.

"It is unlikely that Gambhir will miss out on the tour of West Indies," BCCI sources told TOI. "It does not look very serious at the moment. He'll certainly travel to West Indies and if he has to rest then he'll opt out of a couple of matches," sources added.

However, IANS reported that Gambhir has been advised rest for six weeks to nurse his "sore shoulder". Knight Riders' team physio Andrew Leipus, in a letter to BCCI, said Gambhir needs at least four-six weeks of rest.

"The clinical findings supported the mechanism of the onset of the acute injury. However, he did report having corticosteroid injections on two occasions over the previous few years. In the last match where KKR played MI, Gautam again felt an aggravation of the shoulder pain on one particular throw," Leipus said in his letter.

"On arrival in Mumbai we thought it was prudent to get both an MRI and a consultation with a leading shoulder orthopaedic surgeon. Both the doctor and I believe that he should follow an intensive, supervised and conservative rehabilitation pathway, he will need to avoid both throwing and batting for a period 4-6 weeks," the letter said.

"In this regard, I would expect that the BCCI medical committee would need to consider the ongoing management of Gautam's shoulder injury beyond the IPL and the possibility of his missing any immediate future tours until the shoulder is fully rehabilitated," the letter added.

On Wednesday, Gambhir got out after scoring just four runs while going for a slog sweep. However, at no point during his brief stay did he look uncomfortable. When the Knight Riders walked in to field in the second innings, Gambhir walked out too and seemed to be at absolute ease using his right hand to catch and throw the ball.

Suresh Raina will lead the ODI team in case Gambhir is ruled out. The team will leave for West Indies on May 31.

Gambhir was appointed skipper for the West Indies tour in the absence of Mahendra Singh Dhoni, who was advised rest.

toi

No comments: