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Selectors' work made easy by India 'A' showing

August 04, 2003 18:31 IST

With the India 'A' team exceeding all expectations by their performance in England, the selectors will hardly need to put on their thinking caps when they meet on Tuesday to select the 25 probables for the conditioning camp for the New Zealand series, beginning in October.

Besides those who played in the World Cup early this year, most of the members of the 17-member India 'A' squad are expected to be called for the camp, starting in Bangalore on August 14.

Also making it to the camp will be dashing batsman Virender Sehwag, who had to cut short his county stint due to a sore back, off-spinner Harbhajan Singh (finger injury) and Ashish Nehra (ankle operation), a top Board of Control for Cricket in India official said on Monday.

Stylish middle-order batsman V V S Laxman, who was dropped from the World Cup squad, is also almost certain to be called for the camp, which will see the players interacting with new physical trainer Gregory Allen King for the first time.

The BCCI official, however, contradicted India 'A' team manager Samiran Chakraborty's statement that all 17 players of the 'A' team have been invited to attend the conditioning camp.

"No such decision (to include all India 'A' players) has been taken as yet. But, of course, many of them will make it on the basis of their performance in England," he said.

With India still struggling to find the right opening combination, the selectors may look up to those India 'A' openers who excelled on the England tour, like Wasim Jaffer, who got a double ton in the last match against Warwickshire, skipper Shiv Sunder Das, Delhi youngster Gautam Gambhir and Tamil Nadu's S Sriram.

Veteran speedster Javagal Srinath, who had a wonderful World Cup but is considering whether to extend his career, will, in all probability, be included in the probables' list, which may also feature a host of young seamers, keeping the future in mind.

Baroda's Irfan Pathan (junior), Mumbai youngster Avishkar Salvi, Tamil Nadu seamer L Balaji and Amit Bhandari all had a good England outing, with the first two being quite consistent.

Considering the vulnerability of the visitors to spin, the selectors will lay emphasis on having a strong spin team. Apart from regular spinners Anil Kumble and Harbhajan Singh, the selectors are likely to name left-arm spinner Murali Kartik and leggie Amit Mishra, who performed creditably in England.

It will be interesting to see if the likes of Hemang Badani of Tamil Nadu, southpaw Rohan Gavaskar of Bengal and talented Andhra youngster A Rayadu -- all among the runs in England -- are called for the camp.

For the wicketkeeper's slot, Parthiv Patel and Ajay Ratra are likely to be considered though Bengal's Deep Dasgupta does have an outside chance of making it.

The India 'A' tour of England - Complete coverage


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