Left arm seamer Irfan Pathan has been advised not to play in West Zone's Duleep Trophy opener against North Zone, at Lucknow from February 15 to 18, by the Indian cricket team's new physio, John Gloster.
"John Gloster has advised Pathan to rest his side strain so that he will be fully fit for the forthcoming home series against arch-rivals Pakistan next month," Mumbai Cricket Association joint-secretary Prof Ratnakar Shetty said on Friday.
"However, Pathan has been advised to play in West Zone's next match," Shetty added.
"Indian all-rounder Ajit Agarkar will lead West Zone as first choice skipper and leg spinner Sairaj Bahutule failed to clear the fitness test," Shetty added.
Meanwhile, Baroda left arm spinner Rajesh Pawar and Gujarat's seamer Siddharth Trivedi have been named replacements for Bahutule and Pathan respectively.
The team: Ajit Agarkar (capt), Rajesh Pawar, Wasim Jaffer, Ramesh Powar, Vinit Indulkar, Satyajit Parab, Siddharth Trivedi, Zaheer Khan, Rakesh Patel, Kiran Powar, Niraj Patel, Parthiv Patel (WK), Akash Christian, Dheeraj Jadhav and Jaydev Shah.
