MULTAN , 28 March 2004 — India captain Saurav Ganguly has been ruled out of the first cricket Test match against Pakistan here after failing to recover from a lower back trauma it was announced here yesterday.

Indian manager Ratnakar Shetty made this announcement at a press conference in Multan Cricket Stadium, adding that the final report of injury is yet to come.

Ganguly suffered the injury during the Pakistan’s innings in the final match of the One-Day series as he trundled in a bid to stop Pakistan captain Inzamam ul-Haq’s shot in the deep.

He was stretchered off the field.

Vice Captain Rahul Dravid will lead India in only his second Test and he said “It will be nice to have a winning start.” Dravid had earlier led India against New Zealand in Mohali, Punjab, in 2003.

The high-scoring match ended in a draw.

With Ganguly out and Ramesh Powar left out, Dravid said that the team will be announced today from the 13 probables that includes new arrivals Anil Kumble and Ajit Agarkar.

He did say with Kumble back in the team, he would be preferred ahead of Murali Kartik, indicating that the Indians would be playing only one spinner.

Pakistan too did not announce their team, with Inzamam saying a final make up of the team will be decided later in the night.

He too was confident that his had it in them to win, despite losing the One-Day series.

He was questioned repeatedly on his bowlers failing to find form against the vaunted Indian batting, and grilled whether they had the capability to get the Indian batting lineup out twice.

Inzamam said that Test cricket was totally different from One-Day matches and he was optimistic that his bowlers would come good in Tests.

“One-Day matches are different from Tests and they know they have to perform,” he said.

Pakistan coach Javed Miandad too took a similar line and said: “We have the bowlers and they will have better options in Tests than the ODIs. Here they can go all out, experiment and also pepper the bowlers with bouncers. There are no restrictions in Tests as in One-Dayers.” He did add that the performance on the ground will be important.

Inzamam said that Multan has a history of preparing a sporting wicket, and the side that bowls better will have the edge. The wicket is quite bald and this might have prompted the Pakistan captain from delaying naming his side.

With leg spinner Danish Kaneria and Saqlain Mushtaq back in the side, Inzamam could be toying with the idea of playing two spinners.

Another feel-good factor for the Pakistan captain is that it is his hometown and he is coming into the Tests with a sequence of fine scores. Also in the two Tests that have been played here, both against Bangladesh, he scored a magnificent century under difficult circumstances to give Pakistan a one-wicket victory in the 2003 series.

In the earlier match too, Pakistan held sway with Wajahatullah Wasti cracking tons in both innings in and Asian Test Championship in 2001-02. India’s only experience in Multan has been a three-day match during 1989 when Krishnamachari Srikkanth was the captain.

The only player left in the side that played that match is Sachin Tendulkar, but he and the Indians would seek to forget that match as left-arm spinner Amin Lakhani wreaked havoc with their batting.

But as has been the case, once again it will be the Indian batting that has stood up to the best of attacks that will decide the eventual outcome of the match.

Whenever it has clicked the Indians have always put the opposition under pressure.