With the reputation of the team as well as a number of players on stake, India offered no surprises in the team selection for the first Test against Zimbabwe starting in Nagpur on Thursday. Though skipper Sourav Ganguly said that the final eleven would be announced only on Thursday morning, sources in team management ruled out any major experimentation and indicated that only four bowlers - Javagal Srinath, Anil Kumble, Zaheer Khan and Harbhajan Singh - would be played.
They said off-spinner Sarandeep Singh, fast bowler Tinu Yohannan and all-rounder Sanjay Bangar would have to be left out. However, Ganguly said that there could be a toss-up between Bangar and explosive batsman Virender Sehwag.
The performance of a lot of Indian cricketers, starting from Ganguly himself, who is still struggling to find form in Tests, would be keenly watched as India seek to re-establish their supremacy on the home turf.
Despite the 1-0 win in the test series against England recently, it was the tourists who walked away with the honours especially after they levelled the six-match one-day series after trailing 1-3. Zimbabwe, who come in this series after receiving a battering against Sri Lanka, may not be the most formidable of opponents but they have a history of troubling India. Bureau Report