NEW DELHI, 11 January 2004 — Fast bowler Amit Bhandari has been recalled into the Indian squad for the one-day tri-series in Australia, the cricket board announced yesterday.

The 25-year-old bowler was chosen on the team management’s request and will be an extra player in the 16-member side, the Indian board’s secretary Karunakaran Nair said. India’s pace attack has been depleted following injuries to left-arm pacemen Zaheer Khan and Ashish Nehra.

Bhandari played his only one-day game against Pakistan in the Dhaka Asia Cup in 2000 and was discarded after conceding 75 runs from his 10 overs.

But the Delhi bowler has since improved his strike rate in domestic competitions and for India A, his lack of sheer pace compensated by his ability to swing the ball.

His contributions as a late order batsman could also help end India’s repeated lower order collapses in Australia. India’s last six wickets fell for 13 runs on Friday as they suffered an 18-run defeat to world champions Australia in the opening game of the tri-series also featuring Zimbabwe.

MacGill Wants to Tour Lanka and India With Warne

In Newcastle, Australian legspinner Stuart MacGill yesterday defended his bowling performance in the series against India and said he had every intention of making the tours to Sri Lanka and India this year.

MacGill, whose place in the Australian team is being threatened by next month’s return of Shane Warne from a 12-month drugs ban, captured 14 wickets at 50.79 against India in the four-Test series.

“Call me deluded, but personally I felt pretty good through the whole series,” MacGill said after his 5-94 for New South Wales against Victoria in a Sheffield Shield match yesterday.

“I felt as if I bowled well to really good batsmen so it was no surprise to me today that I found rhythm pretty quickly.

“I saw in the paper I averaged 51 or something against India. It doesn’t really concern me.

“At the beginning of the tour I decided what would be a good gauge for me was if I felt I could bowl to the best players of spin in the world. I certainly think I acquitted myself well on that front.

“I bowled for long periods of time when the guys didn’t score. Maybe I didn’t get them out, but to be a spin bowler and keep them quiet I think was an achievement in itself.

“(V.V.S.) Laxman only got out six times in the tour and I got him three times. If he’s the benchmark, I’m pretty happy with myself.”

Warne returns from suspension in time for Australia’s tour to Sri Lanka in February, when he and MacGill will start jostling for a Test berth.

“Everybody is saying, ‘Shane’s coming back, Shane’s coming back,’ well, for the first five or six years of my career he never went anywhere,” said 32-year-old MacGill.