India looking to break
losing abroad jinx
Indian cricket skipper Sourav Ganguly said on Thursday his team is not taking the Bangladesh side lightly and is determined to beat them in their inaugural Test in Dhaka.
"We are confident of a win and we want to break the jinx of losing Test matches abroad for the past seven years," he told reporters at the Bangabandhu National Stadium, the match venue.
The Indian skipper, who speaks in Bengali -- Bangladesh's state language -- revealed his tactics ahead of the game beginning Friday, Bangladesh's first as a Test nation.
"I have in mind Bangladesh's strong batting line-up and we will play with five bowlers," he said.
India announced a 12-man squad in which pacer Venkatesh Prasad and new batting sensation Yuvraj Singh were absent.
Sources said opener turned middle order batsman V V S Laxman will be the 12th man, while opener S S Das and spinner Murli Kartik will make their debut.
Ganguly said he felt proud to be a part of the history-making Test and wished the very best for the hosts.
He sincerely hoped Bangladesh, the newest member of the cricket's exclusive club, would improve each year as they play more matches.
Bangladesh in turn will play with seven batsmen, captain Naimur Rahman said.
"It is really a dream come true ... I always thought and hoped that Bangladesh would play Tests one day, but I had never thought that I would be a part of this great occasion," the excited skipper told reporters at the stadium Thursday.
"We will face pressure in all the three departments, but we will try to put our best," he added.
Both captains said they would decide after the toss whether to bat or field, with meteorologists forecasting a sunny Friday.
The teams (probable):
India: Sadagoppan Ramesh, S. S. Das, Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly, Saba Karim, Sunil Joshi, Ajit Agarkar, Murli Kartik, Javagal Srinath, Zahir Khan, V V S Laxman.
Bangladesh: Shahriar Hossain, Javed Omar Belim, Habibul Bashar, Al-Shahriar, Aminul Islam, Akram Khan, Naimur Rahman, Khaled Masood, Mohammed Rafique, Hasibul Hossain, Bakshi Ranjan Das, Enamul Haque.
Mail Cricket Editor
