Zaheer skips practice to accentuate fitness doubts

The prospects of Indian pace spearhead Zaheer Khan playing in the second Test at Trent Bridge seem to be very remote.

"He has shown a considerable improvement and we would take a call on him on the eve of the match in consultation with the team physio," stated team manager Anirudh Choudhary.

But anyone who witnessed the Indian team's training session knew that the manager's statement was far from convincing.

Zaheer bowled 13-odd overs at Lord's before a strain in the right hamstring forced him to sit out and severely handicapped the Indian bowling attack as England thrashed India by 196 runs.

As soon as Zaheer arrived at the training session with his teammates, the prying eyes of the Indian media contingent was on the injured speedster.

Long after almost all the Indian players had their nets, Zaheer came out in the company of the team physio, Ashish Kaushik. He did a few laps of the ground; did some sprints under the physio's observation and then picked up his jumper, only to disappear again inside the dressing room.

His bearing wasn't the one of a man who is looking to bowl for India in 48 hours.

Sachin Tendulkar and Gautam Gambhir were two of the other notable cricketers who had fitness issues during the Lord's Test.

Tendulkar, unlike his second innings appearance, was crisp and smartly shaven and was one of the first ones to walk to the nets. Gambhir too looked eager to have a hit even though the bowling on offer wasn't great.

Ishant didn't bowl at all while Munaf Patel and Sreesanth also bowled very sparsely.

Indian skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni, certainly rattled by his recent batting failures, indulged himself in some furious hitting down the ground.

Abhinav Mukund, the young opener, later tried to brush up his fielding. By the looks, he would be at point during the second Test and not forward short leg where he hasn't, truth be told, distinguished himself.