Zaheer first to practise

There's a spy game underway here at Trent Bridge. Everyone wants to know whether Zaheer Khan will play the second Test match. As the Indians arrived yesterday to practise in the morning, everyone, from the groundsman to local staff was eager to know whether India's pace spearhead will hold the red cherry on Friday.
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It can be recalled that Zaheer's haul of nine wickets led India to a famous win here four years ago.


Zaheer Khan

To everyone's surprise, Zaheer, accompanied by the physio, was the first to walk into the ground yesterday.

He started jogging and did stretching exercises as his teammates put in the hard yards at the nets. The Indian team management will take a final call on the seamer after assessing his fitness. Not to forget many ex-English cricketers, in their respective columns, have concluded that India will take a big gamble by playing Zaheer.

Meanwhile, Sachin Tendulkar enjoyed a lengthy net session too. He told MiD DAY after the practice session: "I was having a heavy dose of antibiotics for viral fever that made me weak. I felt very weak during the Lord's Test match. I am trying my best to get back to normal fitness. Hopefully I will be 100 per cent fit by Friday morning, the first morning of the Test match."

Gautam Gambhir, the other wounded soldier, conceded that he was still having pain just behind his left shoulder. However, that didn't prevent the southpaw from having a net session. "There is still some discomfort," he told this paper.