England’s woes only seem multiplied. With India getting more personnel ready for the one day series including Ishant Sharma, England is likely to lose Ryan Sidebottom even before he has made a comeback.
Ishant Sharma was indisposed for the first two one day internationals with a sprain even as the captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni, is finally voicing the word about the tightness of itineraries. But it appears that India may be over Ishant’s troubles who is likely to take his place in the one day side in Kanpur tomorrow, if the team management decides to push him into the series after all.
Ishant has already had an extensive work load and team India will exercise some caution keeping in the mind the Test series ahead. However, Ishant could still be India’s stock weapon given that India would like to close out the series before England come to grips. Either Munaf Patel or RP Singh will have to sit down if Ishant is to be accomodated. Whether Dhoni decides to keep the winning team unchanged or operate on his instincts will only be obvious when play gets underway at Kanpur tomorrow.
But England’s job is not getting any easier. Their bowling has looked insipid at the best of times and they have been largely ineffective in containing the Indian batsmen and in particular, Yuvraj Singh. Now one of their leading bowlers is giving more cause for concern.
Ryan Sidebottom was last seen in the Tests against South Africa. But his trouble with the Achilles problem highlighted earlier kept him out of the first two one day series. Now there may be a new problem at hand for Kevin Pietersen who may have to go without Sidebottom altogether. The back problem that troubled Sidebottom against South Africa is showing signs of a recurrence. Although it is yet unclear if it is minor enough for him to play the crucial third one day international in Kanpur, Pietersen has more than Sidebottom’s injury alone to worry about. He needs to find the key to unlocking the England team’s ability to fight again.
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