India to rest Ganguly, Dravid and Harbhajan

Colombo, August 7: Captain Saurav Ganguly and his deputy Rahul Dravid will miss India's three-day practice game against Sri Lanka Board President's XI beginning here on Wednesday.

Team manager Anant Mate, who did not specify why the two will skip the three-dayer, said off-spinner Harbhajan Singh was also unlikely to play in the preparatory game for the first match of the three-Test series starting on August 14. It was yet to be decided who will lead the Indian side in the absence of Ganguly, Mate said.

The match, originally scheduled to be played at Matara, 160 km south of Colombo, was shifted to the capital on the Indian team's request on security considerations.

Fast bowlers Javagal Srinath and Venkatesh Prasad arrived here on Tuesday afternoon with opener Sadgopan Ramesh to join the Test team. Srinath and Prasad would bowl in tandem for the first time since January 2000 when India played Australia Down Under.

Prasad was very happy to be back in the Indian team after a very long gap and did not hide his pleasure over partnering Srinath again. "Bowling with Srinath is always good. He keeps the pressure on the batsmen, does not give much room for them to play," he said.

Prasad said he would concentrate on the basics and try to maintain his line and length. "The Sri Lankans are good stroke-makers and one cannot afford to bowl a loose line," he said.

For the Sri Lankan XI, talented all-rounder Thilan Samaraweera will lead a bunch of Test hopefuls in a match that will also give an opportunity to veteran left-hander Hashan Tillekeratne to resurrect his career.

Two other left-handers who will be looking to make an impression are Kumara Sangakkara and Avishka Gunawardene. Gunawardene had a couple of decent knocks in the triangular one-day series but Sangakkara has been unable to cement his place in the national side so far.

Teams:

Indian XI (from): Shiv Sunder Das, Sadgopan Ramesh, Hemang Badani, Mohammad Kaif, Dinesh Mongia, Sameer Dighe, Javagal Srinath, Venkatesh Prasad, Harvinder Singh, Zaheer Khan, Rahul Sanghvi and Sairaj Bahutule.

Sri Lanka Board President's XI: Thilan Samaraweera (captain), Avishka Gunawardene, Michael Vandort, Hashan Tillekne, Kumar Sangakkara, T Dilshan, Chamara Silva, Ruchira Perera, Suresh Perera, Dinusha Fernando and Sanjeewa Weerakoon.