England received a major scare on Thursday when captain Michael Vaughan was forced to miss a first-class match on the India tour due to a knee injury.
Vaughan experienced pain and soreness in his right knee, which was operated on in December, and was rested for Thursday’s three-day match against the Indian Board President’s XI team here.
Team spokesperson Andrew Walpole said Vaughan was expected to be fit for the first of three back-to-back Tests starting in Nagpur on March 1.
”Michael has had a recurrence of the knee problem that affected him on the Pakistan tour last year,” Walpole told reporters.
”He has been experiencing soreness in the right knee since last week and it had gradually got worse.
”He tested the knee at the nets this morning and it was decided as a precautionary measure to rule him out of the three-day game.
”We are hopeful he will be fit for the first Test,” said Walpole.
Vaughan’s knee worries have hit England for the second time on tour in the last five months. He suffered the injury while batting during a practice match at the start of the Pakistan tour in October and was forced to miss the first Test.
Vaughan returned for the last two Tests but opted out of the subsequent one-day series to have surgery in December.
Vice-captain Marcus Trescothick took charge of the tourists in Vaughan’s absence on Thursday, winning the toss and electing to bat first on a greenish wicket expected to help seam and swing bowling.
The second Test will be played in Mohali from March 8-12 and the third in Mumbai from March 18-22. The Test series will be followed by seven one-day internationals. – Sapa-AFP