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Ishant available for selection

Principal Correspondent

Kanpur: Ishant Sharma has recovered from the ankle injury that kept him out of the first two ODIs of the seven-match series against England.

“Ishant is 100 per cent fit and is available for selection,” Dhoni told the media on Wednesday afternoon and added that Ishant has to be nurtured through a packed schedule.

The Indian captain said that the pitch at the Green Park Stadium looked flat. “It looks like a good surface to bat and as the game progresses, might assist the spinners.

“I don’t think the toss would be vital. It might become important in the day and night matches later because of the dew,” Dhoni said.

Praising Yuvraj

The Indian captain raved about Yuvraj Singh’s form. “When Virender Sehwag and Sachin Tendulkar are in full flow, it is always a pleasure to watch but Yuvraj has been something more this series. He has been outstanding,” Dhoni said.

“Bowlers have sorted out right-handers. They bowl yorkers and low full tosses but against the left-handers they are unable to alter their lines. Credit to Yuvi, he has been brilliant, strikes the ball cleanly and has shots all over the ground,” he added.

Meanwhile England off-spinner Graeme Swann said that his team was desperate to win Thursday’s match.

“We want to just get out there and win this game. You want to bat first in these conditions and we are hoping to win the toss but if we don’t then either way we have to win,” Swann said.

Swann wants to do well

The off-spinner, who grabbed seven wickets in Sri Lanka last year and helped England win the ODI series, hopes to strike rhythm in Indian conditions.

“India is a place you look forward to as a spinner. I haven’t played in the first two matches and hopefully I will be there in the playing eleven tomorrow and get my lengths right.

“I had a good series in Sri Lanka and I need to build on that confidence,” Swann said.

Swann said that England will have to dismiss Yuvraj early. “We were unlucky in running into him at the end of his bad patch and he has bounced back. We have to get him out early,” Swann said.

“We lost the first game by 158 runs, lost the last game by 54 and I guess we will win this by about 25 runs,” he added in jest.

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