Young bowling sensation Ishant Sharma and Munaf Patel have been included in the sixteen-member Indian squad for the third and final Test match against South Africa in Kanpur. Ramesh Powar has also been recalled as a cover for Anil Kumble, who is suffering from a groin injury, while RP Singh has been dropped after his uninspiring performance in the first two Tests at Chennai and Ahmedabad.

 

Ishant Sharma and Anil Kumble will undergo fitness tests on April 10. Ishant had missed the first two Tests of the India South Africa Test series due to an inflammation to his big toe and a finger injury, sustained during India's down under tour. If Sharma clears the final fitness test, his presence will drastically boost the Indian pace attack, which has been lackluster in comparison to the South African fast bowlers in the two Tests. India’s two frontline bowlers- Sreesanth and RP Singh have shared just three wickets compared to 26 by the South African speedsters.

 

Kumble's injury is a big concern for the Indian team, which needs to win at Kanpur to square the series. The performance of Indian skipper has been below average in both the tests as he has taken just four wickets in this series so far at an inflated average of 60.25. In comparison to Anil Kumble Harbhajan Singh, with 12 wickets, has done much better, and there are indications that if the pitch in Kanpur is spinner fiendly, Piyush Chawla may also be considered.

 

As far as the team composition for the third Test is considered, Ramesh Powar is a surprise inclusion as his performance in domestic cricket, with just 25 wickets in ten games, has been below mark. It is surprising how he was considered ahead of Yusuf Pathan and Mohnish Parmar, who have performed much better than Powar at the domestic level.

 

Indian Batting, which was the main reason of defeat at Ahmedabad, remains unchanged for Kanpur Test. It is believed that Yuvraj Singh or Mohammad Kaif may be included into the playing XI to strengthen the batting line-up which fell like house of cards on the opening day of the Ahmedabad test that virtually sealed the result in favor of the Proteas.

 

Wasim Jaffer, Virender Sehwag, Sourav Ganguly, Rahul Dravid, VVS Laxman, Yuvraj Singh, Mohd Kaif, M S Dhoni (wk), Irfan Pathan, A Kumble (capt), Harbhajan Singh, Piyush Chawla, Ramesh Powar, Ishant Sharma, Munaf Patel and Sreesanth.