Pathan, Chopra in India probables

The selection committee of the Board of Control for Cricket in India included young Baroda paceman Irfan Pathan (jr) in the 20-member list of probables for the upcoming tour of Australia, beginning later this month.

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Pathan was the most successful bowler in the just-concluded four-nation under-19 Asia Cup tournament, which India won. He bagged 18 wickets in four matches at an unbelievable average of 7.38, with a best of 9 for 16 against Bangladesh. He conceded just 133 runs in the 37.3 overs that he bowled, and his strike rate was a superb 12.5.

Tamil Nadu opening batsman Sadagoppan Ramesh, Akash Chopra, who made his debut and opened the innings in the two-Test series against New Zealand, and Bengal wicketkeeper-batsman Deep Dasgupta are also in the list.

BCCI secretary S K Nair said the 16-member squad for the tour, which will have four Tests, will be named after India's last league match against New Zealand in the ongoing tri-series in Hyderabad on Saturday.

"The selectors want to see the performance of the players on Saturday before finalising the team," he added.

Nair said the team will leave for Australia on November 21 from Chennai.

India are scheduled to play four Tests in Brisbane (December 4-8), Adelaide (December 12-16), Melbourne (December 26-30) and Sydney (January 2-6).

The probables: Sourav Ganguly, Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag, Akash Chopra, V V S Laxman, Hemang Badani, Yuvraj Singh, Parthiv Patel, Deep Dasgupta, S Ramesh, Anil Kumble, Murli Karthik, Harbhajan Singh, Ashish Nehra, Ifran Pathan, Zaheer Khan, L Balaji, Ajit Agarkar, Aavishkar Salvi.