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CHENNAI, Oct 18: India's rising star Irfan Pathan will miss the third Test against Australia due to a side strain suffered during the drawn second Test here, an official said on Monday.
The 19-year-old Pathan, who went wicketless in both innings of the Chepauk Test, will be replaced by another left-arm seamer Ashish Nehra for the next match starting in Nagpur on October 26.
"Pathan has a side strain and has been advised rest for two weeks," said Indian cricket board secretary Karunakaran Nair after a two-hour meeting of the selection committee.
Nehra, who has taken 44 wickets in 17 Tests and is a regular member of the one-day side, was the only change in India's 15-man squad.
Star batsman Sachin Tendulkar was retained despite missing the first two Tests due to a tennis elbow injury. Tendulkar, sidelined since mid-August, is expected to resume net practice in Mumbai this week.
The selectors kept faith in young wicket-keeper Parthiv Patel, whose shoddy work behind the stumps during the second Test attracted widespread criticism.
SQUAD:
Saurav Ganguly (captain), Yuvraj Singh, Virender Sehwag, Rahul Dravid, Vangipurappu Laxman, Mohammad Kaif, Parthiv Patel, Anil Kumble, Harbhajan Singh, Ashish Nehra, Zaheer Khan, Ajit Agarkar, Sachin Tendulkar, Murali Kartik, Aakash Chopra.-AFP
