Ishant, Praveen injured ahead of 3rd Test

DOMINICA: In what could be a big blow to the Indian team ahead of the third Test here, two of India's best fast bowlers Ishant Sharma and Praveen Kumar on the tour sustained injuries in a collision while playing football.

Ishant was escorted back to the dressing room by his teammates after he sustained a bruise beneath his right eye after colliding with Praveen.

What could make matters worse for India is that Praveen also was seen holding his head after the collision and seems to have injured himself as well. He also left the field.

Incidentally Ishant has been India's most successful bowler so far in the ongoing Test series and also won the man-of-the-match for his performance in the second Test at Barbados where he claimed a 10-wicket haul.

But team's senior player Rahul Dravid did not give any heed to the incident saying the injury is a minor one ane will be healed before the match starts.

"It's just a small bruise, little bit of a cut may be, but apparently it's not very serious. So it should be okay. I think it's a small cut underneath the eye," said Dravid when asked about the Ishant's injury.

It is expected that the home team will test their visitors by providing pacy and bouncy pitch at the Windsor Park Stadium for the match starting Wednesday.

And despite facing difficulty in preparing the surface due to persistent showers in the past few days, the pitch curator at the venue has assured a bouncy pitch that should help those who are ready to bend their back.

But the hosts would also be wary of India's pace brigade which has done a fine job in the first two matches of the series.

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