KOLKATA, March 1: Leg-spinner Anil Kumble and pace bowler Ajit Agarkar have been left out of the India squad for this month's one-day series in Pakistan due to injury.

But the Indian bowling line-up was boosted by the return of pace spearhead Zaheer Khan, who was sidelined with a hamstring injury in December during the Test tour of Australia.

The national selectors also drafted uncapped off-spinner Ramesh Powar into the 15-man squad in place of Harbhajan Singh, who is unavailable after having surgery on his spinning finger late last year.

Powar, 25, shone with both bat and ball to help Mumbai win the national Ranji Trophy championship last year. One-day batsman Mohammad Kaif was recalled after recovering from a thumb fracture that ruled him out of the Australia one-day tri-series last month.

Middle-order batsman Rohan Gavaskar, son of batting great Sunil, who replaced Kaif in Australia, was left out of the tour party. India, set for their first full tour of Pakistan in 14 years, will play five one-dayers and three Tests. The one-day series begins in Karachi on March 13.

"We have received reports from the board's doctor about Kumble and Agarkar. They have been ruled not fit for the one-day series," Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) secretary Karunakaran Nair told a news conference.

Kumble, only one of four bowlers in the world to take 300 wickets in both Tests and one-dayers, is struggling with a strain in his bowling shoulder. Agarkar, also a key one-day bowler but with a history of breakdowns, is nursing a shin injury he suffered in Australia.

Nair said the fitness of both players would be reviewed before the team for the Test series, starting on March 28 in Multan, is selected on March 22. Left-arm bowler Ashish Nehra is the fourth paceman in the side but Nair said he will have to prove his fitness in a five-day Duleep Trophy match starting on Thursday.

Nehra struggled in Australia on his return following ankle surgery for an injury suffered during the 2003 World Cup. The India squad will take part in a three-day conditioning camp in Kolkata from Sunday and leave for Pakistan on March 10.

Squad: Saurav Ganguly (captain), Rahul Dravid (vice-captain), Virender Sehwag, Sachin Tendulkar, Vangipurappu Laxman, Yuvraj Singh, Mohammad Kaif, Hemang Badani, Zaheer Khan, Ashish Nehra, Lakshmipathy Balaji, Ramesh Powar, Murali Kartik, Irfan Pathan, Parthiv Patel. -Reuters