Laxman picks up minor finger injury

With the first Test against South Africa less than two weeks away, VVS Laxman injured his finger while taking Manoj Tiwary's catch during South Zone's Deodhar Trophy encounter against East Zone. Though the injury prevented him from batting during South's unsuccessful chase of 275 at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad, Laxman was confident he would recover in time for the next game.

"The injury occurred while I took the catch to dismiss Tiwary. There was a cut in the webbing region. So I didn't want to take a risk while batting," he told Cricinfo. "I should be okay in a couple of days. The next match is anyway on the 20th [when South take on Central Zone], so I should be fine by then."

Rahul Dravid made a valiant century for South but, with little support coming from his team-mates, they finished 23 runs short.