London, July 26: A dejected Team India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni said on Monday after the Lord's Test defeat that pace bowler Zaheer Khan might miss the second Test at Trent Bridge beginning Friday.
“I feel with the kind of cricket we are playing it is important to get people fit and not risk someone for one individual game. We have three days but I am not 100 percent sure he (Zaheer) will play or not,” said Dhoni.
“It is a long series and we do not want to risk any further injury. If we feel he is close to 80 or 90 percent fit but playing the game may increase his chances of being injured we will call someone else in,” he added.
Zaheer Khan pulled his hamstring after just three hours of play on the first day of the Test, leaving India a bowler short in the match.
Khan's injury was followed by that of Gautam Gambhir, who had a bruised elbow, while Sachin Tendulkar was feeling the effects of a virus.
“Most of the things that could have gone wrong did go wrong. Batsmen were batting in different slots and it became tough for us to manage the bowlers. There was no Yuvraj Singh, who can bowl spin, and Virender Sehwag, who can bowl off spin so we were limited with resources but I felt the fast bowlers did a very good job,” said Dhoni.
