Martin to replace Sehwag

Uncapped Jacob Martin will replace fellow middle-order batsman Virender Sehwag in the 14-man India squad for the first Test against England.

"Martin is reaching Mohali (the Test venue) tomorrow," Board of Cricket in India secretary Niranjan Shah said over phone from Rajkot.

The BCCI ended a stand-off with the International Cricket Council on Friday by dropping Sehwag -- ruled ineligible for the Mohali Test because of a one-match ban -- after including him in the squad him in defiance of the world body.

But Shah said Sehwag would be kept with the rest of the squad to show the Indian board's support for the player.

Sehwag was handed a one-match suspension by match referee Mike Denness for excessive appealing during the second Test in South Africa last month. Five other Indian cricketers were also penalised leading to major uproar in India.

India and South Africa played the third match after banning Denness as match referee but the ICC responded by stripping the game of its official status.

The BCCI claimed Sehwag had served his ban, after keeping him out of the third Centurion game, but the ICC ruled the player had to serve his ban in the first official Test against England, which starts on Monday.

The Indian team:
India: Sourav Ganguly (captain), Shiv Sundar Das, Connor Williams, Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar, Vangipurappu Laxman, Jacob Martin, Deep Dasgupta, Anil Kumble, Sanjay Bangar, Harbhajan Singh, Iqbal Siddiqui, Sarandeep Singh, Tinu Yohannan.

Mail Cricket Editor