'Pathan, Harbhajan were rested'

The Indian cricket management has sought to justify the controversial omissions of Irfan Pathan and Harbhajan Singh from the team for the first Test against the West Indies, saying the two top players were just "rested" for the match.

Team manager Ravi Sawant came out with a strange explanation by stating that the two players were rested as they had played in the just-concluded one-day series.

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"Only 11 can play in a match, so five have to be dropped from the 16. Irfan and Harbhajan were in the ODI squad also and they have been rested for a while," Sawant told reporters, after the opening day's play in the first Test, which saw India struggling at 235 for 9.

Although the 'resting' of Pathan was quite understandable, considering that the Baroda paceman has been struggling to find his rhythm for quite some time, Harbahajan's exclusion came as a surprise since the off-spinner did a reasonably good job in the one-day international series.

Sawant, who hinted that other players might be rested in future, said the decision was taken keeping in view the bigger assignments ahead.

He also did not agree that the present bowling attack, comprising young pacemen S Sreesanth, Munaf Patel and debutant VRV Singh, lacks experience to pose any problems for the home team batsmen.

"Even VRV has played for India 'A' and done well in past. We are looking at the Champions Trophy and World Cup," he said.