Following Zaheer Khan`s absence due to shoulder injury, the Indian squad in Sri Lanka faced a horrible fitness problem with fast bowler S Sreesanth returning home due to a knee injury. The news sent shivers down to the Indian camp’s preparations as India will now be without two frontline first choice bowlers in the Island nation which hasn’t been a good hunting ground for Indians.

On one hand, Indian selectors picked rookie Abhimanyu Mithun to replace Zaheer Khan whereas Munaf Patel, who last made an international appearance in November 2009, has been named Sreesanth’s replacement.

Experts say that the selectors did not have a wider range to choose from either, as the likes of Irfan Pathan, RP Singh, Ashish Nehra and Praveen Kumar lack the physical strength to cope up with the gruelling pressure of a five-day match.

The loss of these pace merchants will stretch India`s fast bowling reserves even further because that`s the one department in which they have been found wanting in recent months.

We at Zeecric.com want to ask our readers if they think that Indian team has dependable bench strength to manage last minute breakdown of a regular player. Please post your comments to let us know: