HYDERABAD, 17 November 2003 — India’s selectors yesterday named two young fast bowlers for the upcoming tour of Australia after burning the proverbial midnight oil to pick the 16-man squad.
Right-arm quickie Aavishkar Salvi and left-armer Irfan Pathan were given the nod along with back-in-favor opening batsman Sadagopan Ramesh for the four Test matches against the world champions starting next month.
Salvi, 22, has played One-Day Internationals before but not a Test match, while Pathan gets his first look-in at the top level after leading the India’s Under-19 team to victory in a tournament in Pakistan earlier this month.
The selectors, who met after India’s one-day match against New Zealand here on Saturday night, deliberated till the early hours of yesterday before pruning the list of 20 probables announced earlier.
India won the match by 145 runs to qualify for Tuesday’s tri-series final against Australia at Calcutta.
Left-handed Ramesh, who played the last of his 19 Tests in Sri Lanka in 2001, will be the third opener in the touring squad alongside Akash Chopra and Virender Sehwag.
Captain Saurav Ganguly, deputy Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar and Venkatsai Laxman form an experienced middle-order, while spin will be in the hands of the seasoned Harbhajan Singh and Anil Kumble.
Left-arm pacemen Zaheer Khan and Ashish Nehra lead India’s new-ball attack in the absence of the retired Javagal Srinath, with Ajit Agarkar, Salvi and Pathan providing the support role.
Young wicketkeeper Parthiv Patel, 18, has been put on notice by the addition of one more stumper in Deep Dasgupta, whose last Test was against the West Indies in May last year. Ganguly, who attended the selection meeting with coach John Wright, said he was leading a balanced squad for what will be a very tough tour.
