Zaheer Khan

Calcutta: Zaheer Khan, who is supposed to spearhead the Team India attack in next month’s World T20 in England, hasn’t played for the Mumbai Indians after May 3, but the national selectors aren’t certain about the extent of his shoulder injury.

That, at least, was the bottomline till late on Friday.

Zaheer’s last appearance in the ongoing IPL, in South Africa, was against the Royal Challengers Bangalore in Johannesburg. Since then, the left-arm veteran’s franchise has featured in five matches, but he has been on the sidelines.

“We assume the injury isn’t serious, because we haven’t been asked to put anybody on stand-by... The captain (Mahendra Singh Dhoni, leading the Chennai Super Kings) is very much in South Africa, as is the India coach (Cape Town-based Gary Kirsten)...

“If there was reason to worry big, somebody would’ve called one of us or the Board… Let’s hope it’s only a matter of time before Zaheer resumes playing,” one of the five selectors told The Telegraph.

He forgot that colleague Yashpal Sharma is also in South Africa, wearing a Match Referee’s blazer in the IPL. But, then, T20 is played at a frenetic pace.

A clearer picture should emerge once chief selector Krishnamachari Srikkanth (who has a big role in the Super Kings franchise) rejoins the IPL bandwagon.

Srikkanth, who returned home before the May 4 selection committee meeting to pick the World T20 squad, is set to reach South Africa on Saturday.

If Zaheer’s injury is worse than imagined and a replacement has to be named, then a Lakshmipathy Balaji would be a “strong contender”.

The replacement has to be from the list of 30 probables.

Zaheer apart, the Team India XV has four new-ball bowlers — Irfan Pathan, Rudra Pratap Singh, Ishant Sharma and Praveen Kumar.

October, incidentally, will see the 30-year-old Zaheer complete nine years as an India cricketer.