DHAKA, Bangladesh, 26 December 2004 — Confident of clinching the limited-overs cricket series, India may rest some key players while hosts Bangladesh hope to improve on the well-fought opening game they almost won, team representatives said yesterday as both sides practiced ahead of the second match in the capital, Dhaka.

“We are in good mood to win the series,” Indian off-spinner Harbhajan Singh told reporters during nets yesterday.

Singh, meanwhile, said he was “not worried” after being reported for a suspected illegal bowling action in the second Test in Chittagong last week.

“I’m not worried with my action. I’m confident to continue my doosra,” Singh said.

The International Cricket Council, based in London, is reviewing the issue and has asked Indian cricket officials to consult an expert to work with the bowler to identify and address any flaws.

Singh was also reported in 1998 for concerns over his “doosra” delivery, which spins away from right-handed batsmen.

“Since then, I’ve already taken 300 plus wickets,” he said. “Everyone knows about my action.” The Indians may rest top batsmen Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid, as well as bowlers Irfan Pathan and Harbhajan Singh, for today’s day-night match at Dhaka’s national stadium.

Zaheer Khan and Dinesh Mongia, both rested for the first one-dayer, may be included in the 12-member team, which was likely to be named before the match. India was leading the three-match one-day series 1-0, after winning the first game by 11 runs Thursday in southeastern Chittagong city. Bangladesh restricted India to 245 in that match, then fought back to make 234 despite a middle-order collapse.

The home side was hoping for a good performance from its top order — which has been a letdown in recent matches.

“We are not thinking about a win or a loss. We want to improve upon the first ODI. What we want is our top order to score more runs,” said Bangladeshi captain Habibul Bashar.

With a bouncy Dhaka pitch likely to favor pacers, Bangladeshi selectors hinted that fast bowler Mashrafe Bin Murtaza, rested in the first match, may be brought back to replace Mushfiqur Rahman. And regular opener Javed Omar may make a return in place of Rajin Saleh to boost the top order when the final lineup is announced.

Bangladesh:

Habibul Bashar (captain), Khaled Mashud, Nafis Iqbal, Javed Omar, Mohammed Ashraful, Rajin Saleh, Khaled Mahmud, Aftab Ahmed, Mushfiqur Rahman, Mohammed Rafique, Tapash Baishya, Mashrafe Bin Murtaza, Manjurul Islam Rana and Nazmul Hossain.

India:

Saurav Ganguly (captain), Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag, Yuvraj Singh, Mohammed Kaif, Mahendra Dhoni, Harbhajan Singh, Irfan Pathan, Ajit Agarkar, Zaheer Khan, Murali Kartik, Joginder Sharma, Dinesh Mongia and Sridharan Sriram.

Harbhajan Banks on Change of Throwing Rule

In Dhaka, India off spinner Harbhajan Singh is hoping the International Cricket Council (ICC) will relax its throwing rule and thus end the controversy over one of his deliveries.

Harbhajan was reported for a suspect action this week when bowling his ‘doosra’, a variation spinning away from right-handed batsmen rather than into them.

“Hopefully they (ICC) will come out with the 15-degree (rule) and then everyone will be able to bowl that ball,” he told reporters on the eve of today’s second one-dayer against Bangladesh.

“So I think I’ll be able to bowl the doosra again.” Spinners are currently permitted to straighten their arms by five degrees, medium pacers 7.5 and fast bowlers by 10 during delivery but the ICC will study a recommendation in February that all bowlers should be allowed to straighten their arms by up to 15 degrees.

Harbhajan can continue playing while his action is scrutinized by biomechanics experts over the next six weeks.

Sri Lanka’s spinner Muttiah Muralitharan, who has been reported but then cleared of throwing several times, was also reported for a similar delivery this year and told to stop bowling it.

India are expected to go 2-0 up in the three-match one-day series against Bangladesh today despite winning the first match by 11 runs.

Bangladesh captain Habibul Bashar said: “The Chittagong result was close, but if you saw the game it wasn’t really.

“Right now we are not thinking about winning the game. We’re improving step by step. We’re thinking if we can keep improving match by match and narrow the margin of losing, we’ll start winning.”