By IANS,
New Delhi : Temperamental fast bowler Shantakumaran Sreesanth Tuesday replaced injured medium pacer Praveen Kumar in the 15-member India squad for the World Cup.
“The national selectors have picked Sreesanth as Praveen Kumar’s replacement in the Indian team for the tournament. The ICC has confirmed that Praveen Kumar can be replaced in the squad by S. Sreesanth,” Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) secretary N. Srinivasan said in a statement.
Praveen has failed to recover from an elbow injury to his bowling arm and after a fitness test Monday at the National Cricket Academy (NCA) in Bangalore, the selectors decided not to risk the Uttar Pradesh bowler.
Sreesanth also took a fitness test along with Praveen at the NCA.
“It is a great opportunity for me. I don’t want to let down my team. I have done well in the last few months and have to carry on with the good work,” Sreesanth said.
Praveen picked up the injury at the start of the ODI series in South Africa and was sent back home to recover at the NCA. He also rushed to London to take advice from eminent surgeon Andrew Wallace, who had treated Sachin Tendulkar in the past.
Sreesanth, however, will be closely monitored by the team management. He was rebuked by captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni during the series in South Africa and was also fined 10 percent of his match fees by the International Cricket Council (ICC) for showing dissent during the third Test in Cape Town.
Sreesanth bowled well in the Test series in South Africa. Though he was not part of the ODI series in South Africa, he picked up seven wickets in the two ODIs he played against New Zealand at home late last year.