R P Singh rocks Dravid; skipper to be fit in 48 hours

Kolkata, May 5 (UNI) The Indian camp continued to be in the grip of injury with skipper Rahul Dravid getting hurt by a RP Singh bouncer that jarred into the vizer of his helmet on the penultimate day of the Indian team's training camp at Eden Gardens here today.

Dravid's injury, however, was not serious and he is expected to be fit within 48 hours.

''Dravid has been asked to take complete rest for 24 hours, thus he will not be able to take part in the remaining of the sessions.

He will be fit again by day after tomorrow,'' said the team's administrative manager Surinder Bhave.

Dravid was injured when a RP Singh delivery rose awkardly from the center pitch of the Eden Gardens and hit his helmet's grill.

He had initially gone on front foot but later decided to shoulder arm the delivery and the ball crashed into the helmet and the impact caused his nose to bleed. He collapsed immediately and later walked off the field with his face covered in a towel and blood oozing from his nose.

The ball, thankfully, did not hit the right-hander's face directly or the result could have been far more dangerous. He had a minor cut under his nose too.

''Dravid is under medication, and the bleeding has stopped,'' said Dr Debashish Sanyal, an ENT specialist who checked the batsman immediately after the incident.

Later in the day, Mr Bhave confirmed that the X-Ray report showed nothing dangerous except for a bruise and the bleeding was the result of a nasal trauma. There was no need to undergo an MRI scan.

Dravid spent the day resting in his hotel room and is not expected to involve himself in tomorrow morning's practice session which is also the concluding session of the five-day camp before the team heads off to Bangladesh.

UNI