Napier: Paceman Zaheer Khan, who sustained an injury during India's tour-opening Super Max match at Christchurch, is making encouraging progress and should be fit in time for the first Test against New Zealand at Wellington next week. "Zaheer is going through his bowling motion to get his rhythm in order," said physio Andrew Leipus bringing cheer to the Indian camp, already worried on its bowling count. Left-armer Zaheer, who has emerged as India's bowling spearhead in the last few months, was hit straight on his right knee by a shot from Brendon McCallum during the Super Max game. Zaheer since then has had his knee heavily strapped though no fracture was detected. "Till recently, not much could have been done because of the swelling," said Zaheer. "But now it's better." Leipus sounded relieved as he said, "At worst the injury was only a bad bruise." Coach John Wright was also confident of Zaheer being fit in time for the first Test starting on Thursday. "Zaheer looks good to be fit for the first Test and that's good news for us," Wright said. But even if Zaheer looks good for the Test, there is still a doubt whether to put him through the paces, as he has had no nets on the tour so far. Zaheer has been out of international action for quite some time now missing the third Test and the following seven-match One-day series against West Indies at home due to a knee injury. He passed the fitness test before the selectors named the squad for the New Zealand tour. Zaheer bowled a few overs in the Super Max game but could not play in the three-day game against the Central Districts because of injury. Now even the next few days do not look too bright since it has been raining heavily in Wellington, the venue of the first Test. Captain Saurav Ganguly for a moment toyed with the idea of staying back an extra day in Napier to allow his team some much-needed practice but two things made him discard the notion as early as it was entertained - the forecast for rain in Napier was not good either and the entire process of rescheduling of air tickets and hotel bookings was just not feasible. Extras:
Indian batsman get good practice, match drawn
Kiwis name newcomer Mason in Test team vs India

Tags: cricket, zaheer khan, super max, christchurch, new zealand, wellington, indian physio andrew leipus, india, brendon mccallum, indian coach john wright, west indies, indian captain saurav ganguly, napier specials, specials_news, specials_2002.