June 26, 2007	Tuesday	Jamadi-us-Sani 10, 1428

BELFAST, June 25: India have been struck down by illness, with more than half of their 14-man squad suffering, on the eve of their opening One-day International against South Africa at Stormont here Tuesday and have had to call up reinforcements for their tour of the United Kingdom.

India captain Rahul Dravid told reporters at Stormont that wicket-keeper batsman Mahendra Singh Dhoni, the first to fall ill, fast bowler Shanthakumaran Sreesanth, medium-pacer Ajit Agarkar, off-spinner Ramesh Powar and left-arm quick Rudra Pratap Singh were all suffering from viral fever and 'flu.

Dravid added he too was feeling unwell as were batsman Yuvraj Singh and left-arm pace bowler Zaheer Khan.

“Quite a few boys in our team are suffering from viral fever and 'flu,” and symptoms of that kind,” Dravid explained. “Sreesanth, Ajit Agarkar, Dhoni, R.P. Singh and Ramesh Powar have not come to practice on Monday.

“There are other guys like Yuvraj Singh, myself, Zaheer Khan and Robin (Singh, the fielding coach) who are feeling a bit down.”

Uncapped 28-year-old Baroda pace bowler Rakesh Patel, who has been playing club cricket in Liverpool, north-west England, has been called up to India's one-day squad.

“In consultation with the board and the chairman of selectors we have called up Rakesh Patel from one of the leagues here as back-up for the fast bowlers because with Sreesanth and Ajit unlikely to play on Tuesday, Zaheer a bit doubtful, we were a bit light in that department,” Dravid said.

Meanwhile 18-year-old quick Ishant Sharma, who has played one Test, and uncapped seamer Ranadeb Bose, both due to join the Test squad later this tour, have been drafted in with a view to being available for the second of three One-day Internationals against South Africa at Stormont on Friday.

“It's not an ideal situation for us to be in,” said Dravid. “There's not much we can do about it. Hopefully we can get 11 guys fit on the park and play a good game of cricket.”

Experienced batsman Dravid added some thought had been given to moving Tuesday's match to Wednesday but said such an idea was ultimately impractical.

“We did look at that option but obviously there are a lot of things that go into organising a one-day game.

“It involves television, tickets, spectators, catering and a last minute decision to move the game by a day was proving quite difficult so we decided to go with what was there and play tomorrow.

“It's a viral fever and there's not much we can do. Dhoni was the one who got it first and it just spread across the team.

“But if we can get 11 guys on the park we believe anyone is capable of playing some good cricket. Irrespective of the situation, South Africa was obviously going to be a tough game.”

And Dravid added the current situation opened up possibilities for inexperienced players such as teenage leg-spinner Piyush Chawla to take a leading role. “It's a good opportunity for some of these young guys, to test themselves against good opposition in conditions they are not really used to.”

London-based Nitin Patel will provide cover for injured India physiotherapist John Gloster who tripped over a boundary rope at Stormont last Friday and broke his hand.

India and South Africa are set to complete their series on Sunday.

After that series, India play arch-rivals Pakistan in a One-day International in Glasgow on July 3.—AFP