Zaheer Khan goes through the paces at nets in Colombo on Tuesday. (AFP)

Colombo: The injury-prone Zaheer Khan’s immediate future with Team India is going to be decided on Wednesday morning, during the nets ahead of the Asia Cup match against Bangladesh. In any case, the left-arm quick is out of contention for that game.

According to a well-placed source of The Telegraph, Zaheer will be sent home if he “fails to bowl off his full run-up.” In that eventuality, Ajit Agarkar is going to be the recipient of an SOS.

Agarkar has been approached by Middlesex for a short-term contract and the thinktank is understood to be checking on his “whereabouts.”

Zaheer, it may be recalled, exhibited poor body language in Sunday’s match versus Sri Lanka in Dambulla. The official explanation, of course, is that he “tweaked” a left thigh muscle while fielding — not bowling.

In fact, on Tuesday, coach John Wright praised Zaheer for sending down nine overs despite being in discomfort. “This injury has come at the wrong time... In the opening game (against the UAE), after all, he looked the fittest he has for many months,” Wright said.

Ajit Agarkar

Zaheer’s fitness is under scrutiny from last December, when he pulled a hamstring during the Brisbane Test. He had problems in Pakistan too. It’s no different on this trip and, really, the national selectors need to take a stand on players who keep getting unfit after presenting themselves as being in the pink of health.

It’s not only that strategy gets affected, but somebody who is fit gets deprived of a berth and opportunities.

Yuvraj on Murali

Meanwhile, in Yuvraj Singh’s opinion, the doosra-ban hasn’t exactly made Muttiah Muralidharan less lethal. “At best, it could be that he is bowling at 97 per cent and not 100...Murali remains a threat...”

Yuvraj did get 47 on Sunday, but acknowledged he “needed” to play “more shots” when the champion off-spinner seeks to dominate. That chance will come on July 27, when the two face-off yet again, in the tournament’s Super Four phase.