MI not to rush Zaheer

Zaheer Khan’s injury is ‘not serious’ but the Mumbai Indians (MI) team is ‘not taking any chances.’ The team management has decided to rest the left-arm pacer for MI’s next match against Deccan Chargers on Wednesday.

“We don’t want to rush him. We will take it match by match,” Shaun Pollock told reporters on Tuesday. “We know the importance of Zaheer for the Indian team and we will keep that in mind,” the MI coach said. A team spokesman confirmed that Zaheer has been resting his bowling shoulder since he had a fall during MI’s game against Royal Challengers Bangalore on Sunday. “The injury is not serious. He will be a part of the IPL at some stage surely,” the spokesman added.

Meanwhile, the Board of Control for Cricket in India said it had not received any report on Zaheer’s injury from the MI team management. Zaheer was included in the Indian squad for the World T20 announced by the BCCI on Monday.

Nitin Patel, who is the physio of both MI and the Indian team, has not submitted any report to the Board. But the BCCI is not worried. “There is no concern. There is one month left for the World T20. So there is enough time for him to recover if the injury is serious,” a Board official said.