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Pacers Sreesanth, R.P. Singh out of first Test

By IANS

New Delhi : Team India received a jolt Tuesday when the Indian cricket board announced that pacers Sreesanth and Rudra Pratap Singh were ruled out of the first Test against Pakistan starting here Thursday.

In an e-mailed statement, secretary of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) Niranjan Shah said that the selectors have now included lanky Baroda pacer Munaf Patel into the Test squad.

Shah said that Sreesanth and R.P. Singh were injured and thus would not be able to play the first of the three Tests at the Ferozeshah Kotla.

Sreesanth played in the fifth and final one-day international against Pakistan in Jaipur and bowled well to take three wickets. It is believed that he might have been injured during the match.

R.P. Singh was, however, rested for the Jaipur match, before which India had taken a 3-1 winning lead. Pakistan won the match to reduce the deficit to 2-3.

In the original 14-member squad, India now have pacer Zaheer Khan and spinners Harbhajan Singh and Murali Kartik to choose from, besides Patel.