An off-colour R P Singh was dropped on Sunday and fellow paceman Munaf Patel was recalled in India's 16-member squad for the third and final cricket Test
AHMEDABAD: An off-colour R P Singh was dropped on Sunday and fellow paceman Munaf Patel was recalled in India's 16-member squad for the third and final cricket Test against South Africa.
RP Singh, who put in a poor performance in both the Tests after coming back from injury, was the only player to face the axe following the team's humiliating innings defeat in the second Test here.
Stocky spinner Powar, who has not been in the Test picture since representing the country in the two-Test series in Bangladesh last May, was also included in the team as cover for captain Anil Kumble, who will have to undergo a fitness test along with paceman Ishant Sharma before the third Test beginning in Kanpur on April 11.
Kumble, whose participation in the second Test was in doubt, is once again under an injury cloud but Cricket Board secretary Niranjan Shah was not sure when the captain got injured in the match.
"His earlier injury must have recurred," was how the BCCI official put it when asked specifically whether the Karnataka stalwart had gone into the tie here without recovering fully from his groin strain suffered in the series opener in Chennai.
Kumble and Ishant will have to undergo the fitness test on April 10, according to Shah. The Delhi bowler will arrive here on Monday to practice with the rest of the team before they proceed to Kanpur on April 8.
"Two selectors, including Sanjay Jagdale, will go and watch the fitness test," Shah said. The squad would be trimmed to 14 after the two players' fitnesses are assessed, he added.
Sachin Tendulkar, who had missed the second Test because of a groin injury, has already been ruled out for the third and final Test which India have to win to level the three match series.
Opener Jaffer is obviously lucky to keep his spot, despite having done very little of note in this series except a 73 on the featherbed at Chennai that followed his flop show in Australia, but Kanpur might offer him a final chance to keep his place.
While the Indian bowlers have had a disappointing outing in both the matches, the selector referred not to make too many changes in the bowling line up, which meant that Sreesanth and Irfan Pathan might continue to be retained in the squad.
The start-stop career of 24-year-old Baroda-born Maharashtra pacer Munaf Patel, who has not played a Test since the second match against Pakistan at Kolkata's Eden Gardens, has also been given a fresh lease of life.
Squad: Anil Kumble (capt.), Wasim Jaffer, Virender Sehwag, Rahul Dravid, V V S Laxman, Sourav Ganguly, M S Dhoni (v-capt., wicket-keeper), Irfan Pathan, Harbhajan Singh, S Sreesanth, Yuvraj Singh, Mohammed Kaif, Piyush Chawla, Munaf
Patel, Ishant Sharma and Ramesh Powar.
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