Injuries galore

With about 3 weeks to go for the start of the World Cup, it might be too early to talk about this list of injuries, but the list seems to be growing and might turn out to be a big concern for some teams. The team at the top of the list has to be Australia, with the latest announcement that Brett Lee won't make the Caribbean trip. This is a big blow to the hat-trick ambitions of the Aussies, especially given the trashing they received at the hands of NZL recently, failing to defend totals in excess of 330 twice. However, I still believe Stuart Clark must have been in the team in the first place and hence this might turn out to be a blessing in disguise for them.

Other injury concerns
Australia: Ponting, Hayden, Symonds, Puppy Clarke. Clearly they have the biggest concerns right now. With Gilchrist deciding not to join the team till later (whether it is appropriate is an entirely different issue that I will discuss when talking about Australian team), they face a challenge of putting together 11 match-fit players for the warm-up games.

England: Vaughan (whats new), Pieterson, Anderson. They must be used to Vaughan being in the list and I think Vaughan should get "Tournament of the player" award if he just manages to play all games without injuries. Kevin Pieterson is the key and for the sake of cricket, I hope he recovers 'cos he is really a joy to watch. Anderson was just finding some rhythm in Australia and might be a key player too.

India: Irfan Pathan and Munaf Patel. I believe that Yuvi and Agarkar playing the last couple of games is proof they have recovered and that Sachin was just rested as a precautionary measure. I believe Irfan will come through fine in the Deodhar trophy game but if he doesn't, I hope Romesh Powar replaces him in the squad.

Pakistan: I really dont know if their problems are more to do with injuries or drug tests. I am certain that Asif and Akhtar are clearly concerned about testing positive again, which might mean a life ban since this is an ICC tournament. Asif is definitely a key bowler for them and without Asif, Akhtar and Gul, they are definitely going to struggle to make the semis.

West Indies: Sarwan. He is a key player for the Windies aspirations of winning the world cup at home. He has been out of international cricket for a while and hence it will be interesting to see how rusty he is, even if he recovers.

New Zealand: Jacob Oram. I am convinced that Oram had a huge role to play in changing NZL's fortunes around. His knock in the comeback game gave them the confidence to make big scores again and Lou Vincent's comeback made things better and the results now are there to see. So, NZL will want him up and running soon.

South Africa and Sri Lanka: Super fit or is it a case of peaking too early? :).

Stay tuned to these pages for updates as we get closer to the World Cup