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| December 10, 2001 | Monday | Ramazan 24, 1422 |
Giles likely to play in second Test
AHMEDABAD (India), Dec 9: England spinner Ashley Giles should be fit to play in this week’s second Test against India after recovering from a foot injury, according to the tourists’ captain Nasser Hussain.
“I expect him to be fit. He has done everything today,” Hussain told reporters Sunday after nets in the western city of Ahmedabad.
England, who slumped to a 10-wicket defeat in last week’s first Test in Mohali, are desperate for Giles to be fit because the match, which starts Tuesday, is expected to be played on a spin-friendly pitch.
The tourists failed to reach 250 runs in either innings on a seamer-friendly Mohali track where Indian leg-spinner Anil Kumble and off-spinner Harbhajan Singh shared 15 wickets.
Left-armer Giles, 28, was ruled out of the first match of the series with a bruised heel suffered in a tour match, leaving Richard Dawson to lead England’s spin attack in his first Test.
An Achilles tendon injury restricted Giles to just one of this year’s five Ashes Tests, and although he was passed fit to take his place in the squad for the Indian tour, he did not play in the first two warm-up games.
“We want to have Ashley back in the side,” Hussain said. “We want to give him every chance. But we need to see if he can go through five days.”
Hussain’s side face the prospect of a 3-0 whitewash as the Indian spinners are expected to dominate in Ahmedabad and Bangalore, the venue for the third Test, on slow, turning tracks.—Reuters
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