May 29, 2008	Thursday	Jamadi-ul-Awwal 23, 1429

MUMBAI, May 28: The Indian cricket board on Wednesday said it will not give any directive to the national selection panel on the composition of the Indian team for the forthcoming Asia Cup and the triangular series in Bangladesh even though it feels that the tournament is an ideal event for experiments.

“There’s going to be no directive, but this tournament seems ideal to take some risk by including new players in the team,” said the BCCI secretary Niranjan Shah on Wednesday.

Speculations are already on about the chances of seniors like Saurav Ganguly, Rahul Dravid and Vurrupu Laxman being inducted into the squads although a number of budding players are ready to make their mark in international cricket. Asked about news reports that Sachin Tendulkar may not be available for the short visit to Bangladesh, Shah said that the selection panel chief Dilip Vengsarkar would be the one in the know of these things.

The master batsman missed the second and third home Tests against South Africa and the first seven IPL ties for his team Mumbai Indians due to a groin injury.

Shah also said that if need be, the IPL team franchise physiotherapists’ reports could be asked for in case of doubt about the fitness of a few players who got injured during the tournament.

The selectors will be picking both squads on Friday. India will leave for Bangladesh on June 8 and will play their first match against Pakistan on June 10 and against Bangladesh on June 12. —Agencies