Pacemen Balaji, Nehra return to India squad against Pakistan by AFP

---

Event:

Pakistan in India 2004/05

---

DateLine: 26th February 2005

 

India have named four fast bowlers in a 14-member squad for the opening cricket Test against Pakistan, with Laxmipathy Balaji and Ashish Nehra making comebacks.

 

Left-arm seamer Nehra and Balaji returned to bolster the pace attack after being out of Test cricket for nearly a year because of injuries. Both played their last Test match in April against Pakistan.

 

Nehra has so far bagged 44 wickets in 17 Tests and Balaji 13 in five. They are expected to provide valuable support to left-arm fast bowlers Irfan Pathan and Zaheer Khan.

 

Star batsman Sachin Tendulkar, who played just one domestic game after the Bangladesh tour in December to rest his injured elbow, was also included in the team announced by board secretary Karunakaran Nair on Saturday.

 

The opening Test of a three-match series begins at Mohali on March 8. The remaining two Tests will be played at Calcutta and Bangalore.

 

Pakistan, who arrive in India on Monday, will also play six one-day internationals.

 

India captain Sourav Ganguly will now have a full-strength bowling attack at his disposal as off-spinner Harbhajan Singh has also been named in the squad along with leg-spinner Anil Kumble.

 

Nair said Harbhajan had been cleared by the International Cricket Council (ICC) after being reported for suspect bowling action during the second and final Test against Bangladesh in December.

 

Harbhajan was reported by English match-referee Chris Broad for his "doosra", a delivery which spins away from the right-handers instead of coming into them like a normal off-break.

 

The spinner, who went to Australia to work with bio-mechanics expert Bruce Elliott, benefited from the latest ICC ruling on chucking which allows bowlers to bend their elbows by up to 15 degrees.

 

The new rule, which comes into effect on March 1, is expected to make almost all modern bowling actions legal.

 

The national selectors preferred middle-order batsman Yuvraj Singh to Mohammad Kaif who had been out of the team despite his impressive performances in a home Test series against Australia last year.

 

Kaif, who was then not considered for Test matches against South Africa and Bangladesh, will lead a Board President's team in a three-day game against Pakistan at Dharamsala on March 3.

 

"Yuvraj's record against Pakistan and his present form in domestic cricket prompted the selectors to pick him ahead of Kaif. However, Kaif is in the running for the remaining two Tests," said Nair.

 

Indian squad for first Test: Sourav Ganguly (capt), Rahul Dravid, Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Sachin Tendulkar, Venkatsai Laxman, Yuvraj Singh, Dinesh Karthik, Zaheer Khan, Irfan Pathan, Ashish Nehra, Laxmipathy Balaji, Anil Kumble, Harbhajan Singh.

 

Board President's XI: Mohammad Kaif (capt), Dheeraj Jadhav, Satyajit Parab, Shikhar Dhawan, Venugopal Rao, Suresh Raina, Neeraj Patel, Parthiv Patel, Ramesh Powar, Shib Paul, Rudra Pratap Singh, Gagandeep Singh, Ranadeb Bose, Ram Kumar.

(Article: Copyright © 2005 AFP)