England face fast pace in opener

Published February 11, 2006

MUMBAI, Feb 10: Indian selectors have prepared a dose of pace for England by naming four fast bowlers in a team for the tourists’ only first-class match before the Test series.

Fast bowlers Sreesanth, Munaf Patel, Vikram Singh and Shib Paul have been selected in a Board President’s XI squad to take on England in a three-day match starting at Vadodara on Feb 23.

The first Test begins at Nagpur on March 1.

The 14-man Board team, led by batsman Venugopal Rao, also contain Test openers Gautam Gambhir and Wasim Jaffer.

Board President’s XI squad: Venugopal Rao (capt), Gautam Gambhir, Amit Mishra, Dinesh Karthick, Subramaniam Badrinath, Wasim Jaffer, Ramesh Powar, Munaf Patel, Dheeraj Jadhav, Suresh Raina, Sreesanth, Vikram Singh, Pragyan Ojha, Shib Paul.—AFP