More trouble for India

Monday April 7, 02:24 AM

They were bowled out for an embarrassing 76 in 20 overs on Day One of the second Test, their bowling looked lifeless in a five-session leather hunt, and they lost the game by an innings and 90 runs with two full days left to play. And yet, India's biggest worry is not how badly they came off in Ahmedabad.

The selection committee was forced to pick a 16-member squad for the third Test in Kanpur as India's injury worries keep mounting.

The five-member committee, which met in Ahmedabad yesterday, picked Mumbai off-spinner Ramesh Powar as cover for Harbhajan Singh, who joined the doubtful list. He injured himself while bowling.

"There are some niggling injuries in the team. So we have named a 16-member team for the Kanpur Test. After the fitness test of Kumble and Ishant, two players will be sent back to make it a 14-member squad," said the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) secretary Niranjan Shah while announcing the squad.

Harbhajan was India's most impressive bowler in Ahmedabad, ending up with 4-135.

Sachin Tendulkar is already ruled out of the must-win encounter and both Ishant Sharma and Anil Kumble will undergo fitness tests before the Kanpur game. Zaheer Khan is still recovering from an ankle problem that saw him leave midway through the Australia series. And while Irfan Pathan is fit and batting well, his bowling - for which he was picked in the eleven - remains a big concern.

In fact, the only bit of good news the Indians must have got was word that the Kanpur pitch - which uses black soil - will not assist pace as much as the one in Ahmedabad did, and India's spinners could come into play.

Munaf Patel for RP Singh

Also making a comeback into the team is medium-pacer Munaf Patel, who makes way for RP Singh.

The left-arm pacer has looked extremely insipid in Chennai and Ahmedabad - incidentally his first two Tests at home - leaking 235 runs without picking up a single wicket in 53 overs.

Powar last played a Test in May 2007 against Bangladesh, while Patel last turned out in India's whites against Pakistan in Kolkata 2007.

Opening batsman Wasim Jaffer gets one more chance at the top of the order, but time might be running out for the Mumbai bat. He may have scored 73 in the first innings of the Chennai Test, but he averages a meager 16.8 in his last ten innings.

It is learnt that the selection committee debated his inclusion intensely before deciding to stick with him. The opener faces stiff competition from Gautam Gambhir, who played a big role in India's ODI triumph Down Under, and Aakash Chopra, who has been scoring runs by the ton in domestic cricket this year.

The squad

Wasim Jaffer, Virender Sehwag, Rahul Dravid, Sourav Ganguly, VVS Laxman, Yuvraj Singh, Mohammad Kaif, Mahendra Singh Dhoni (wk), Irfan Pathan, Anil Kumble (capt), Harbhajan Singh, Piyush Chawla, Ramesh Powar, Ishant Sharma, Sreesanth, Munaf Patel

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