Centurion, Dec 15 : Even as India look to topple South Africa in their den, pace spearhead Zaheer Khan's fitness continues to throw a spanner in their plans. Zaheer, who did not have a great year as far as fitness is concerned, is central to India's plans in what is being billed as the series of the year for both the teams, reports Times of India.
The left-arm pacer did not bowl at all on Monday when the team had its first official practice session here at the Super Sport Park. In fact, Indian team's physio Paul Chapman was seen working hard on Zaheer for a long time. This gave rise to concerns that all's not well with Zaheer despite the team management's assurances to the contrary.
On Tuesday, Zaheer did bowl at half tilt for some time as the practice session was winding up. Before that, he sprinted for a while to test his groin which has been causing some concern lately and he looked in some discomfort.
Zaheer had missed the third Test against New Zealand at Nagpur because of the groin niggle. He came back for the final two ODIs but seemed to have hurt his groin again during the fourth ODI. The Indian squad has Umesh Yadav and Jaidev Unadkat to pick from as the third pacer if Zaheer is ruled out of the opener.
