Sachin Tendulkar Last first class match South Africa v India,Cape Town,January 2011 After the endless whirl of the World Cup and the IPL he played 16 matches for the Mumbai Indians Tendulkar opted out of the West Indies tour to spend more time with his family. His return to Test cricket proved that even the greatest players can take time adapting to the demands of the classical format in testing conditions,as a series average of under 35 would testify. The eager buzz of an imminent hundredth international hundred preceded each of his innings,but Tendulkar came close only in his final knock of the Test series,falling short by nine runs. Yuvraj Singh Ailments: Lung infection,broken finger Last first class match Himachal Pradesh vs Punjab,Dharmasala,November 10 Yuvraj pulled out of the Caribbean tour,citing a lung infection. Having played no Test cricket since last July,Suresh Raina was preferred over Yuvraj for Lord's,but he was chosen for the second thanks to Gautam Gambhirs injury. He scored a half-century in the first innings,but a broken finger sustained while fending off a Tim Bresnan bouncer in the second ended his tour. Virender Sehwag Ailments: Right shoulder Last first class match South Africa v India,Cape Town,January 2011 Sehwag delayed having surgery on an injured right shoulder and played the IPL. He then pulled out of the West Indies tour to go under the knife. With the additional complication of partial loss of hearing in his left ear,he played the last two Tests,scoring only 33 runs in four innings. He had to pull out of the ODI squad,with neither shoulder nor ear in shape. Gautam Gambhir Ailments: Shoulder,elbow,concussion Last first class match South Africa v India,Cape Town,January 2011 Gambhir triggered a franchise vs country debate by pulling out of the Caribbean tour with an injured shoulder after playing 15 IPL games. He returned at Lord's,only to take another body blow,flush in the elbow while fielding at short leg. Forced to miss the second Test,Gambhir returned for the last two,only to discover that his woes weren't at an end. Falling backwards while attempting to catch Kevin Pietersen at the Oval,he landed heavily on his head and suffered a concussion. The opener batted at number eight in both innings of the fourth Test,and it is unclear whether he will stay back for the ODIs. Zaheer Khan Ailments: Right ankle,hamstring Last first class match South Africa v India,Cape Town,January 2011 Zaheer played 15 IPL before pulling out of the Caribbean tour with an injured right ankle. Coming back to Test cricket after six months,Zaheer bowled 20 overs in the first innings of the tour game at Taunton,but didn't take the field during Somerset's second innings. The official word was that Zaheer was only resting. Midway through the first day of the first Test at Lord's his figures were 2/18 at that point he left the field with a strained hamstring,and didn't play any role on the field for the rest of the match. Zaheer sat out the second Test,bowled only three overs during the tour game at Northampton,and flew back to India to have surgery on his ankle. He is out for 14-16 weeks. Harbhajan Singh Ailment: Abdominal muscle strain Last first class match WI v India,Dominica,July 2011 before England tour: Of all the Indian players,Harbhajan Singh was perhaps the most prepared for the England tour,since he had played through the West Indies tour. Yet,he picked up just two wickets for 287 runs,before picking up a stomach muscle strain in the second Test,ruling him out of the rest of the series. RP Singh Last first class match South Zone v Central Zone,Hyderabad,January 2011 With visions in their collective mind's eye of a young,strapping,nippy RP Singh boomeranging the ball into Kevin Pietersen's pads in 2007,the selectors flew in the Uttar Pradesh left-armer as Zaheer Khan 's replacement during the third Test at Edgbaston. An injury to Praveen Kumar before the final Test meant that either RP or Mumaf Patel would have to play at The Oval. The team management went for RP,and instead of a tall,strapping RP hitting 140kmph,they got a chubby RP jogging in arhythmically and struggling to touch 130. He duely went wicketless for his efforts,or the lack of it. Sreesanth Ailments: Elbow Last first class match South Africa v India,Cape Town,January 2011 Sreesanth played nine matches in the IPL for the Kochi Tuskers before an injured elbow in his bowling arm forced him to skip the Caribbean tour. He wasn't part of the Lords Test,but returned in place of Zaheer at Trent Bridge. Cutting down some of his theatrics and aggression,Sreesanth looked good with the assistance of helpful conditions on Day One,but his bowling fell away thereafter,as he struggled to recapture the zip that saw him blow away Jacques Kallis at Durban. By the end of the series,he was bowling at Praveen Kumar's pace,sans the swing.
