Cricket
India bolster batting line-up
2010-02-09 19:56
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Nagpur - India moved to strengthen their batting for the final Test against South Africa, bringing in one-day specialist Suresh Raina and recalling Dinesh Karthik, after losing the first game of the series on Tuesday.
Wicketkeeper-batsman Karthik got his recall to the 15-man squad on the back of twin centuries in a recent domestic first-class final.
Vangipurappu Laxman was expected to recover for the final game in Kolkata, starting on Sunday, after missing the opening Test with an injury.
India, who need to win the Kolkata Test to hold on to their number one ranking, had already lost experienced number three batsman Rahul Dravid and Yuvraj Singh for the entire series with injuries.
Wriddhiman Saha and medium-pacers Abhimanyu Mithun and Sudeep Tyagi have been dropped from the squad that lost the first Test by an innings and six runs, while medium-pacer Shanthakumaran Sreesanth returns following an injury break.
Squad:
Mahendra Singh Dhoni (captain), Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Murali Vijay, Sachin Tendulkar, Vangipurappu Laxman, Subramaniam Badrinath, Harbhajan Singh, Amit Mishra, Zaheer Khan, Shanthakumaran Sreesanth, Ishant Sharma, Pragyan Ojha, Dinesh Kartik, Suresh Raina.
