Published: May 29, 2014, 07:22 PM (IST)
Edited: May 29, 2014, 07:23 PM (IST)
May 29, 2014
After sustaining an injury while practicing for the Mumbai Indians (MI) during the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2014 match, Zaheer Khan was ruled out for the remainder of the tournament.
The squads for India’s tour of Bangladesh and England were announced on Wednesday, and Zaheer’s name didn’t feature in either squad. Zaheer’s coach, Sudhir Naik, spoke to mid-day about his fears regarding Zaheer’s future.
“Although he would be fit for the Test series, the selectors would not like to take a risk with Zaheer’s fitness. Their major concern would have been whether he could last for the full series. So, that is why they did not select him,” said Naik.
“I don’t think the selectors will consider Zaheer again. It will be very, very difficult for Zaheer to make a comeback into the Indian team. The only possibility is if the younger lot of pace bowlers selected fail miserably. Then, the selectors might consider Zaheer again. Otherwise, there is no chance,” Naik said.
Naik revealed that Zaheer’s dream of playing 100 tests for India might not be realised. “His dream was to complete 100 Tests and then retire. But I guess now that will not happen. I was confident that he could achieve his goal when he returned to full fitness after nearly a one-year injury lay-off. But unfortunately, this injury has practically ended his international career. There are only 25 per cent chances of him making a comeback now,” Naik said.
