Hard times for Team India

These are not the happiest times for Team India. They have had their worst series defeat in England since 1959. they have most of their powerhouses like Zaheer Khan, Yuvraj Singh and Harbhajan Singh out due to injury. On top of that they have recently lost Sehwag and Ishant Sharma to injuries as well. Add to that the dubious decision-making of BCCI and the future of the team and the rest of the series looks bleak indeed.

There were suggestions on the first day itself that Sehwag might go home after the Test, and that he had undergone a secret fitness test too. The team management, however, denied that anything like that had happened. "As of now, there are no such plans," said team manager Anirudh Chaudhry, inadvertently letting in that something might be amiss. However, Sehwag's departure now raise serious questions as to why he was recalled at all if he was not a hundred percent match fit.

This is not the only example of management trying to somehow field players even if they are not fit enough to endure what is arguably the most gruelling format of the game. The three pacers Praveen Kumar, Ishant and Sreesanth had been given injections on the eve of the Test to make them battle-ready. Eventually, PK declared that he could not go through the rigours of a five-day match. At the end of the match, Ishant too had to pull out of the rest of the series.

Then there was the inexplicable decision to fly out R. P. Singh, clearly unfit, overweight and lacking in match practice as he was instead of playing Munaf Patel who was warming the benches. He looked pedestrian, not even managing to touch 75 km/h; not too surprisingly, he didn't pick up a single wicket.

With things standing as they do, Team India would really be hoping that the replacements for the injured players, Mumbai batsman Ajinkya Rahane and Jharkhand pacer Varun Aaron , come good in the ODIs and the senior players strike some form.