Sriram likely to play

Opening batsman and left arm spinner S Sriram is likely to replace allrounder Reetinder Singh Sodhi in the Indian eleven for the second one-day cricket international against Zimbabwe, at Motera, Ahmedabad, on Tuesday.

Indian captain Saurav Ganguly told reporters after net practice on Monday he is satisfied with the condition of the pitch, which, he said, should offer some turn in the later stages of the match.

Hence, he said, "We might play Sriram, who can bowl left arm spinners in place of Sodhi."

However, the final decision on the playing eleven will be taken only after inspecting the pitch on Tuesday morning, he added.

Sriram was injured on the right cheek during fielding practice and needed two stitches. However, Ganguly later clarified that the injury is not serious and the youngster would play as a middle order batsman if selected.

Off spinner Nikhil Chopra, whose name also figured in the betting and match-fixing controversy along with five other cricketers, opening batsman Shiv Sunder Das and either Sodhi or Sriram would be left out from the 14-member squad.

Queried about the controversy surrounding Chopra, the stylish left hander said: "It is for the board to sort out the matter and as far as I am concerned when he (Chopra) is in the 14-member squad he is very much a part of the team.

"I don't want to be part of any controversy and it is better you ask the board for further clarifications," Ganguly said.

Speaking about the match, the southpaw said it always feels good to go into any series a match up.

Praising middle order batsman Hemang Badani's fine batting in the first one-dayer at Cuttack, which India won by three wickets, the skipper said: "He (Badani) has got runs whenever he played for the country and it was good to see him win the match for us.

"After Rahul Dravid's run-out, Badani not only took the initiative but also guided the team to victory with an unbeaten half century. It is very good for the team and I hope the youngsters come up with more and more such performances in future as it is not humanly possible for just three or four batsmen to perform all the time."

Asked about the poor fielding of the Indian team in the last match, where as many as eight catches went abegging, Ganguly admitted the catching was very poor. "I just could not believe the end result despite fielding poorly. However, it will not happen again," he added.

Coming back to Chopra's selection in the Indian team, Ganguly said: "The Indian board told us that he (Chopra) was available for selection and that is how he came into the side."

The too had a strenuous workout in the afternoon and are likely to retain the same eleven which played at .

Skipper Heath Streak, who is not in the best of form on the current series, told reporters he is confident that his side would come up with a good performance.

"The first match was pretty close and I think our boys played well though we got 20 to 30 runs less than what we had in mind," he added.

"The wicket looks pretty good and I think we will retain the same eleven for tomorrow's match," Streak said.

The two umpires for the match are former India skipper S Venkatraghavan of Chennai and K Hariharan of Delhi. The third umpire is Sameer Bandekar of Mumbai while the reserve umpire is V M Gupte of Baroda.

Former Aussie wicketkeeper Barry Jarman is the match referee.

The teams:
India: Saurav Ganguly (Capt), Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, Yuvraj Singh, Hemang Badani, Shiv Sunder Das, S Sriram, Vijay Dahiya (wicketkeeper), Sunil Joshi, Nikhil Chopra, Zaheer Khan, Venkatesh Prasad, Ajit Agarkar and R S Sodhi.

Zimbabwe: Heath Streak (Capt), Guy Whittall (Vice-capt), Andy Flower, Alister Campbell, Grant Flower, Stuart Carlisle, Dirk Viljoen, Doug Marillier, Brian Murphy, Travis Friend, Henry Olonga, Bryan Strang, Trevor Madondo, Mleleki Nkala and Gavin Rennie.

Mail Cricket Editor