AHMEDABAD (India), Oct 7: India chose uncapped paceman Lakshmipathy Balaji, deciding not to play three spinners in the first Test against New Zealand starting on Wednesday.

Balaji will share the new ball with left-arm Zaheer Khan in the absence of the experienced Javagal Srinath and Ashish Nehra, who are both injured, captain Saurav Ganguly said on Tuesday.

Coach John Wright had hinted on Monday a third specialist slow bowler could join off-spinner Harbhajan Singh and leggie Anil Kumble.

But Ganguly, who bowls gentle seam, told reporters he would fill in as the fifth bowler with Sachin Tendulkar and Virender Sehwag’s occasional spin on a pitch he felt would favour batsmen.

The 22-year-old Balaji, an in-swing bowler who has modelled his action on Srinath, had a good domestic season claiming 48 wickets at an average of 15.12.

Uncapped opening batsman Aakash Chopra has also been included in the playing eleven. The 26-year-old Delhi batsman has an impressive first class average of over 56 and slammed a hundred against the tourists in a three-day warm-up last month.

Ganguly said India would be boosted by their excellent track record at home where they have never lost a series to the New Zealanders.

“We have done well at home and won almost every series in the last two to three years,” he said. “We have done it so convincingly and the statistics favour us.”

But opposing captain Stephen Fleming said his side preferred the underdog tag as it put pressure on the hosts to atone for their 2-0 rout in New Zealand last year.

“We are prepared for a tough battle,” he said. “The expectation of Indian players is to win 2-0 because you have a pretty demanding public and media.”

He said New Zealand were ready for hot Indian conditions despite their opening tour game badly affected by rain.

Fleming, who has left-arm spinner Daniel Vettori and off-break bowler Paul Wiseman in his squad, said he was also not too concerned about facing India on turning tracks.

“We are not paying too much attention on it,” he said. “It’s different to what we play at home.

“What we are looking is to apply ourselves and not worry too much going into the tour and Test match.”

Teams:

India: Saurav Ganguly (captain), Aakash Chopra, Virender Sehwag, Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar, Vangipurappu Laxman, Parthiv Patel (wicket-keeper), Harbhajan Singh, Anil Kumble, Zaheer Khan, Lakshmipathy Balaji. 12th man: Yuvraj Singh.

New Zealand (from): Stephen Fleming (captain), Mark Richardson, Lou Vincent, Nathan Astle, Craig McMillan, Scott Styris, Robbie Hart (wicket-keeper), Jacob Oram, Daryl Tuffey, Daniel Vettori, Paul Wiseman, Ian Butler, Michael Mason, Richard Jones.

Umpires: David Shepherd (England) and Rudi Koertzen (South Africa).

Match referee: Ranjan Madugalle (Sri Lanka).—Reuters