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This is one place where wishing the Indian team by saying "Break a leg" is strictly forbidden. "Health Check" takes you into the hitherto-unexplored realms of Andrew Leipus and Adrian Le Roux. Keeping weekly tabs on the aches and pains, or hopefully lack thereof, of the Indian team, "Health Check" gives you the complete low-down on the fitness levels of the touring side.
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Anil Kumble and the real jaw-breaker
© CricInfo
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There may have been less blood and death, but for India, Antigua's
enactment of "Jaws" was just as horrific as Steven Spielberg's epic.
Mervyn Dillon, bowling on a benign pitch, managed to get one delivery
high enough to sneak under Anil Kumble's grill and break his lower
jaw. Kumble spat blood and received some on-field treatment, but when
he departed after getting out, few would have suspected the real
gravity of his injury.
Drs Saumitro Sengupta and Raj Kumar Jamula, summoned to tend to the
leg-spinner, took an X-ray that revealed a fracture. "We immediately
minimised the movement of the broken jaw. We could have sent him to
Miami, and he could have been fit within seven days, but a small plate
would have been pushed in from outside the jaw," said Dr Jamula.
"Kumble could have played after that."
"It was a complete fracture of the lower jaw, and our immediate
concern was to stabilise the fracture," said Dr Sengupta, practicing
in Antigua for a decade now. "We bonded the lower jaw with plastic
cement."
But when Kumble saw the progress of the West Indian innings and the
turn that Sachin Tendulkar was getting, his leg-breaking fingers
started to itch. Accordingly he gave instructions for his jaw to be
strapped up and strode onto the field, ready, after being dropped for
two games, to do fierce battle.
"When I saw him take the field, with the bandage wrapped around his
face, I could not believe it. Believe me, I just stood looking at this
true soldier of Indian cricket," said Ganguly. "When he told me that
he wanted to bowl, I just handed over the ball and could not help
saying 'Go at them.' It was such an unbelievable incident. We had
heard about heroics; here was a burning example".
Kumble captured the wicket of Brian Lara and almost had captain Carl
Hooper on two occasions. Any movement of the jaw pained him, but that
did not stop Kumble from appealing vociferously to give India any edge
he could. That may well have aggravated the injury, as physiotherapist
Andrew Leipus confirms.
After 14 overs of sharp bowling, Kumble gave in to medical counsel and
repaired to the confines of the pavilion. The next day saw him depart
for Bangalore, where he is scheduled to undergo surgery on Thursday.
But doctors favour Kumble's chances to return to the fray for India's
tour of England.
"He should be back in full action after two weeks," surgeon Kishore
Nayak said. "In fact, he can even start training in three or four
days, although we will advise him to rest." Kumble himself seemed
philosophically accepting of his condition. "I am disappointed, but it
is part and parcel of the game," he said.
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