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Nagpur: Just one delivery and that too in a warm-up game and World Cup is over for Edward Rainsford. It cannot get worse than this for a player.
Zimbabwe team suffered a major blow before their World Cup campaign begins as their strike bowler will be flying home on Thursday after breaking his ankle ligament when he bowled the first ball of the innings against Ireland at the VCA Stadium here on Tuesday.
As soon as he bowled the first ball, he fell down in his follow-through which hurt his ankle badly. The injury was so serious that Rainsford had to get plaster applied on his ankle and use crutches to walk as they left for Ahmedabad for their first World Cup match against Australia on February 21.
"I am completely shattered by the injury. I had lot of hopes from this World Cup but seems like fate has other things in store for me. I am more disappointed because the team had plenty of expectations from me as I happen to be the most experienced pacer in the side," a dejected Rainsford told TOI on Wednesday.
The 26-year-old Rainsford is the spearhead of Zimbabwe fast bowling attack and this could have been his second World Cup having played in the 2007 edition in West Indies. The lanky speedster has taken 45 wickets in 39 One-day Internationals at an impressive average of 31.13.
"The physio examined the injury and suggested me that it will take at least three weeks to heal. The team management has decided that I should take treatment in Zimbabwe. There is no chance for me to recover. Unfortunately, World Cup is over for me. It's a pretty bad feeling to leave my teammates just prior to such a big event," regretted Rainsford.
Interestingly, Rainsford was not part of the Zimbabwe XI on Tuesday and did not bat but came on to bowl.
