Will Jadeja be fit for Australia?
The Nayan Mongia affair has mercifully ended
Partab Ramchand
23-Dec-1999
The Nayan Mongia affair has mercifully ended. It was like a long drawn
out soap opera with a needlessly tragic ending. The `star' (Mongia)
was a pawn in the hands of the `director' (The Board of Control for
Cricket in India). And if the BCCI does not play its part correctly,
it could have another unnecessarily downbeat soap opera, this time
`starring' Ajay Jadeja.
The 28-year-old Jadeja was at first selected for the tour of Australia
but had to withdraw on grounds of an injured shoulder. He went to see
South African specialist Mark Fergusson. Apparently the injury was
serious enough to warrant a surgery, a point Fergusson made in his
report. In fact he went a step further and said Jadeja could not play
for India without undergoing an operation to his injured shoulder and
recuperation thereafter would take at least six weeks. ``Even
physiotherapy will not help him in his recovery without surgery,''
Fergusson is reported to have said.
BCCI secretary JY Lele told reporters after the working committee
meeting in Chennai on Sunday that the Board would send the doctor's
report to the five selectors and leave it to them to decide whether
Jadeja should picked or not for the tri series.
The point to note is that when the medical expert has recommended
surgery, can the selectors risk picking Jadeja? It is obvious that
Jadeja, according to the report, is not fully fit to play the game. So
why does Lele throw the ball in the selectors' court? The BCCI's firm
stand should be that unless Jadeja undergoes surgery, he will not be
considered for selection.
In any event, Lele is now expected to table the medical report at the
selectors' meeting in Mumbai on December which will decide on the
changes to be made in the Indian team for the limited overs tri series
in Australia next month. Jadeja is one of the candidates to play in
the competition. But will he make the trip? Or, more pertinently,
should he be allowed to?