Croft feels Nehra should play in place of Zaheer

In South Africa, the Sachin Tendulkar and Virender Sehwag run-riot on the very first day of the Test series failed to prevent India from losing the match comprehensively.

Here, it only took all of forty-eight hours for the West Indians to get on top in the first Test of the series. One man who took a lot of stick from Messrs Hooper and Co. was Zaheer Khan. He had a fine series against the touring Zimbabweans but as soon as he has sealed a place in the Test team, his bowling seems to have lost its bite again. Not surprisingly, then, the experts following the Test at Guyana are of the opinion that Ashish Nehra would have been a better choice.

Michael Holding was furious. "How old is he? So tired in the very first two days of the first Test of a tour? I just can't believe it! A left-arm fast bowler without the ability to swing the ball can never be able to strike. He has pace but pace alone can do nothing. And so many no-balls! I don't understand it," the man once known as the Rolls Royce among fast bowlers said.

Geoffery Boycott was even more scathing as usual. "Does he know what the people do with the unwilling horses in race-course? Those are simply shot dead. The team management should immediately have a talk with him and learn his problems. He should be asked whether he intends to play for the team directly. I've seen him quite a few times and know that yorkers are his best weapons. Why did he not use it when the batsmen came to the crease and why did he only bowl them after they were set? He should explain this."

Colin Croft, the former fast bowler from the West Indies, was in favour of picking Ashish Nehra instead of Zaheer. "I have seen him (Nehra) bowl in Zimbabwe. He has the ability to swing the ball and also extract bounce from the track. He is definitely a better bowler than Zaheer. Why are you not playing him? Potentially he is a better bowler," he said.

When this correspondent informed the trio that Nehra is very much injury prone, Boycott was surprised. "Then the board should do something. They should be under constant observation, may be under military eyes! I just fail to understand why a budding bowler will not be concerned about his fitness. Everybody knows that fitness is the most important factor for a fast bowler. Why are they not concerned about their own future? How many Tests has he played? Maybe four or five. Add some ten to twelve one-dayers. Those numbers should are not enough to make somebody injury-prone, I suppose!"

It might be so. But while the team was leaving for the hotel at the end of the second day's play, we saw Kumble with an ice-bag on his shoulder and VVS Laxman with an even bigger ice-bag tied to his knee. That's the true picture of the Indian team. We will continue to carry cricketers with ice-bags, and the team will continue to suffer always.