Dravid to miss rest of prep camp

After Sachin Tendulkar's twisted ankle, a nose injury to captain Rahul Dravid on Saturday was the last thing Team India needed before the all-important tour of Bangladesh.

Dravid collapsed on the ground after an RP Singh bouncer hit him on the face during Saturday morning's net session in Kolkata.

The ball hit the visor, which in turn hit Dravid on the nose.

It is a huge blow to the team just five days before India's first one-dayer against Bangladesh.

The 34-year-old had to be taken off the field immediately, bleeding profusely from the nose. However, the team management later clarified that there were no cuts or injuries.

"It is only a nose trauma, nothing else. That's what the doctors have told us. Rahul will take about 48 hours to recover, and the ENT specialist has already seen him. John Gloster will follow up from there," said Surendra Bhave, Administrative Manager, Indian Cricket Team.


Under observation

The Indian skipper will stay under observation for 48 hours. This means he'll miss the rest of the preparatory camp before the team leaves for Dhaka on Monday.

And though his initial X-ray hasn't revealed anything serious, Dravid has been advised an MRI scan.

"There is nothing in the X-ray that was conducted on him, but that was done at the CAB's medical unit. Later if it is done from a proper place, then we can see what happens," said Dr Debasis Sanyal, ENT Specialist.

Despite the injury, Dravid is expected to travel to Dhaka on May 7. But in case he does not, there will be a bit of a leadership vacuum.

The team does not have a vice captain and Sachin Tendulkar and Sourav Ganguly are not part of the one-day squad. This leaves just Virender Sehwag, with his own bagful of worries, to take over as the stand-in captain.

This is definitely not a good start for the Indian team. The biggest challenge for the team will be beating the heat and maintaining fitness levels in what will be a 23-day long tour.

Meanwhile, Sachin is expected to be back to full fitness in time for the Test series, which starts on May 18.