Mumbai: Irfan Pathan, S. Sreesanth and Munaf Patel will man the pace bowling department with V.R.V. Singh as the fourth seamer for the Test series against the West Indies, the chairman of selectors, Kiran More, said at the post-selection press conference here on Wednesday.

This means that Ajit Agarkar's dream of playing a Test series against the West Indies has been shattered. His mediocre performances in eight Tests, after his match-winning spell of six for 41 against Australia at the Adelaide Oval in December 2002, has denied him the fourth seamer's slot.

Agarkar's 58 Test scalps at a steep 47.33 have substantiated the selectors' contention that the Mumbai seamer was not capable of delivering the goods in Test cricket. He has played against all Test-playing nations except the West Indies.

Agarkar, however, earned a consolation "We are happy with his bowling'' line of praise for his two for 38, two for 25 and two for 32 efforts in the three ODIs.

Grooming talent

"On a green top pitch at Karachi, Agarkar did not figure in the seam attack. We backed Sreesanth following his performances in the Ranji Plate league. Similarly V.R.V. Singh has the potential and we would like to groom him for the future,'' said More.

A midnight call to Rahul Dravid and Greg Chappell after the completion of the match at St. Kitts also ensured the retention of both Mohammad Kaif and Suresh Raina, thus taking forward the policy of picking seven specialist batsmen for an away tour.

More said the committee discussed at length the pros and cons of picking a third opener. But eventually the middle order got the boost because Kaif brings vast experience, and Raina, on the strength of the 23 ODIs under his belt and impressive showing, was known material.

"The team will have an option to look at M.S. Dhoni as a third opener,'' said More.

Kaarthick makes it

As expected Mumbai off-spinner Ramesh Powar made it to the Test squad. "They (Dravid and Chappell) said the wickets had been re-laid for the World Cup and the pitches were affording turn. That's why we have chosen Powar, who has done very well so far. He's been the find of the season. They also asked for a second wicketkeeper and we have picked Dinesh Kaarthick,'' concluded More.

Venugopala Rao will lead the India `A' team to Australia for the Top End series. Uthappa and Rudra Prathap Singh are part of the team. "R.P. Singh is talented and needs to gain experience,'' said More. Railways' Tejinder Pal Singh and Gujarat seamer Siddharth Trivedi have also been chosen.

The Test squad: Rahul Dravid (capt.), Virender Sehwag, Wasim Jaffer, V.V.S. Laxman, Yuvraj Singh, Mohd. Kaif, Suresh Raina, Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Dinesh Kaarthick, Irfan Pathan, S. Sreesanth, Munaf Patel, V.R.V. Singh, Anil Kumble, Harbhajan Singh and Ramesh Powar.

India `A' team for the Top End ODI series in Australia: Venugopala Rao (capt., Andhra), Parthiv Patel (vice-capt., Gujarat), Shikhar Dhawan and Gautam Gambhir (Delhi), Robin Uthappa (Karnataka), Rohit Sharma (Mumbai), S. Badrinath (Tamil Nadu), Reetinder Singh Sodhi (Punjab), Tejinder Pal Singh (Railways), Cheteshwar Pujara and Ravinder Jadeja (Saurashtra), Rudra Pratap Singh and Piyush Chawla (Uttar Pradesh), Shib Shankar Paul (Bengal) and Siddharth Trivedi (Gujarat).

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