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India 'A'-Sri Lanka 'A' first Test from today

By G. Viswanath

Ahmedabad Nov. 22. Murali Kartik looked a touch under the weather at the Motera, following a severe bout of flu he had caught after the TVS Cup final.

The left arm spinner, who cast a spell on some of the Australian and New Zealand batsmen in the tri-series, arrived here on Saturday and conveyed to the India `A' coach Sandeep Patil that he is feeling very weak to take the field in the first four-day Test against Sri Lanka `A' here on Sunday.

While his team-mates were engaged in warming-up routines, Kartik remained just a spectator. He did not blame the cold in New Delhi for his plight and said that he was as vulnerable as any to suffer from the dreadful bug.

The team management has not asked for an immediate reinforcement but has decided to manage with the resources it has. The home team's spin attack is bound to suffer following Kartik's illness.

Gujarat seamer Siddharth Trivedi, who was sent to Adelaide this June for a five-week advanced training to the Commonwealth Bank Cricket Academy in Adelaide, will come in Kartik's place.

Trivedi was included in the XI at the instance of the National selectors.

There was the handy option in leg-spinner Amit Mishra, who will travel to Pune carrying hopes of getting the selectors' nod for the second Test after which the team for the third Test in Mumbai will be selected.

The three-man seam attack has now left skipper Shiv Sundar Das to form an effective bowling combination with specialist off-spinner Ramesh Powar and part time spinners Sridharan Sriram, Hemang Badani and Rohan Gavaskar.

Munaf Patel, who played his first Ranji Trophy match for Mumbai last week, and Delhi's Amit Bhandari, the replacement for L. Balaji, will spearhead the home team's seam attack.

Patel has been getting the big breaks after he made a fine impression on the Indian team during the camp in Bangalore.

Not many bowlers have been as lucky, but the evidently the selectors feel that Patel has the potential and hence has to be given adequate exposure.

After the home series against the West Indies last year, Das led India `A' to England, but has been short on opportunities since July. "It's been disappointing, but I have realised that I have to score runs to come back into the reckoning,'' said Das.

The Sri Lanka `A' skipper Naveed Nawaz said that his team is beginning to adjust to the conditions. "The match at Rajkot was useful in the sense that our seamers got a first chance to bowl with the SG balls. In Sri Lanka all first class cricket is played with Kookaburra balls. The feedback from the seamers have been different though."

The immediate aim of some of the players in the team would be to make an impact straightaway in order to impress a national selector who is here to monitor the team's performance and recommend players for the Test series against England.

The teams (from):

India `A': Shiv Sundar Das (captain), Gautam Gambhir, Hemang Badani,Sridharan Sriram, Mohd. Kaif, Rohan Gavaskar, Ajay Ratra, Munaf Patel, Amit Bhandari, Siddharth Trivedi, Ramesh Powar, Ambati Rayudu, Amit Mishra and Murali Kartik

Sri Lanka `A': Naveed Nawaz (captain), Ian Daniel, Nuwan Shiroman, Jehan Mubarak,Lanka Silva, Rangana Herath, Lasith Malinga, Thilan Kandamby,Chamakira Mudalige, Anushka Pollonowita, Tharanga Lakshitha, Tharanga Paranvithane, Prassanna Jayawardane, Omesh Wijesiriwardane, Kaushalya Weeraratne

Umpires: Messrs: Devendra Sharma and Shavir Tarapore.

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