Indian bowler Munaf Patel - AP
AHMADABAD, India (AP)
India selectors recalled pace bowler Munaf Patel yesterday for the third Test against South Africa.
Patel replaces Rudra Pratap Singh, who failed to make an impression in the opening two Tests.
India must win the final Test that begins on Friday in Kanpur to square the series, after being trounced by an innings and 90 runs in the second Test that ended on Saturday.
India cricket board secretary Niranjan Shah announced the squad after a selectors' meeting, with India resisting the temptation for wholesale changes despite suffering its biggest loss on home turf since 1959, when Australia won by an innings and 127 runs.
It was also India's biggest defeat anywhere since losing to Australia by an innings and 141 runs in 2000.
Fitness tests
Shah said skipper Anil Kumble, who has a groin strain, and fast bowler Ishant Sharma, who is nursing finger and toe injuries from the recent tour of Australia, will undergo fitness tests ahead of the third Test. The pair also had fitness tests ahead of the second Test, when Kumble played and Sharma did not.
The selectors have summoned off-spinner Ramesh Powar into the squad as cover for Kumble.
India will again be without star batsman Sachin Tendulkar, who has a groin injury.
Seeking to replace India from the No. 2 position in the ICC Test rankings, South Africa goes into the final Test with a 1-0 lead after the opening Test in Chennai was drawn.
India squad: Anil Kumble (captain), Virender Sehwag, Wasim Jaffer, Rahul Dravid, Sourav Ganguly, V.V.S. Laxman, Yuvraj Singh, Mohammad Kaif, Mahendra Dhoni, Irfan Pathan, Harbhajan Singh, Shantakumaran Sreesanth, Piyush Chawla, Ishant Sharma and Ramesh Powar.
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