With his blurred vision failing to get better, Indian opener Gautam Gambhir could be stuffing his bags to return home. In what could be a big blow to the campaign of the world champions in the forthcoming one-day series alongside England, Gambhir looks set to practice the same fate as Zaheer Khan, Yuvraj Singh, Harbhajan Singh and Virender Sehwag who either came or joined the Indian squad only to leave injured having contributed little to the team's cause.
India were beaten 4-0 in the Test series; lost their number one Test rankings and are in danger of suffering a similar debilitating fate in the one-day series, starting with the first game in Chester-le-Street on September 3.
Gambhir had backpedalled to catch a pull by Kevin Pietersen at mid-on on the second day of the final Test at the Oval on August 19, but trip and fell on his head, a fall which resulted in blurred vision.
He didn't open either innings of the Oval Test and came in down the order, contributory little by way of runs.Since then, he has visited doctors and had MRI scans which have given him a clean bill of health. However, Gambhir is still far from well.
Gambhir's case is similar to the one suffered by South African fast bowler Dale Steyn throughout the Champions League T20 last year when he too fell on his head as he backpedalled to try and catch Michael Hussey in a semi-final clash between Chennai Super Kings and Royal Challengers Bangalore.
Steyn's MRI scans also showed little, but the paceman took 3-4 weeks to recover full fitness. With Gambhir potentially out for a similar length of time, he is also now a doubt for when England pay a return visit to India in early October.