Gambhir confident of fitness before Champions Trophy

Indian opener Gautam Gambhir has said that he will be fit for the Champions Trophy and will make a comeback from the injury that has seen him fly back to India from Sri Lanka. Gambhir had been chosen as the opener of the Indian side for the tri-series in Sri Lanka, with the Kiwis being the third side, but he was reported to be struggling with a groin injury on the eve of the tournament and had to return back.

According to the Indian skipper, M.S.Dhoni, he had sustained the injury during the BCCI’s Corporate Trophy and aggravated it towards the end of the tournament there. He had then gone to Sri Lanka in the hope that it would get better as the tournament started, but with no signs of improvement, he had had to return to India.

Gambhir said that since it was a groin strain, it usually needed seven to ten days of rest for the entire recovery and because the first game that India were to play in was more than 12 days away, there was a reasonable chance that he played in the tournament. He said, “It's a groin strain, so it would have taken me a week to 10 days - and our first game is on the 26th. And I want to get fit before that.”

It has been said that his withdrawal from the tournament was more to do with erring of the side of safety. Team India will go into the Champions Trophy without the services of Virender Sehwag – their other frontline opener – and that would mean that if Gambhir would have aggravated the injury, it would have put the Indians in a spot of bother without too many openers for the Champions Trophy. If Gambhir were to get fit for the Champions Trophy, he would open the innings with Sachin Tendulkar in all probabilities.

Gambhir added that he could have continued playing there, but that would have added the risk of him having to miss out on the Champions Trophy. India also has a rather long season ahead, with the tri-series only being the start of it, as they also host Australia for a long seven ODI series, and the Delhi Daredevils will also play in the Champions League, a tournament consisting of 12 clubs from across the world. Gambhir will be a vital cog in the Delhi line-up.

He is currently being overseen by the physio-trainer team of Paul Chapman and Paul Close at the National Cricket Academy in Bangalore, but will soon need only rest to overcome the issue.