NEW DELHI, Dec 25:
On a day he was announced in the playing XI for a live away rubber (in SENA countries) for the first time in over four years, nobody in the top management of the team is yet to bell the cat on what exactly was wrong with Ravindra Jadeja’s shoulder or who knew about it and when. Two days earlier coach Ravi Shastri had revealed for the first time how the left-arm spinner had landed in Australia with a stiff shoulder – for which he’d taken an injection previously – felt the stiffness subsequently and then taken another injection. This shoulder issue had been cited as the main reason for Jadeja not having been considered for the Perth Test.
On Tuesday, chief selector MSK Prasad, who’s been on tour from the start, insisted that Jadeja was “absolutely fit” based on the fitness report the committee had received and that he’d been picked for the tour based on that.
“On the eve of any selection meeting, the selection committee is given a fitness report of all the players. In that report, Jadeja was absolutely fit. So we picked him. After we picked him, he went and played Ranji Trophy also, he bowled 60 overs. So there is no question of him being unfit at the time of selection,” he said.
He, however, was non-committal about whether he was aware of the two injections Jadeja had taken, once in India and the other upon landing in Australia. (PTI)