The Indian team management have requested that the Indian cricket board send fast bowler Ajit Agarkar to Sri Lanka as a back up option for the final Test in Colombo starting on Wednesday.

When strike fast bowler Javagal Srinath pulled out of the tour after sustaining hand injury in the first Test in Galle the Indian selectors decided not to send a replacement even though India only had three full time fast bowlers in their 15-man squad.

A lacklustre performance by right arm pace bowler Harvinder Singh in Kandy, though, appears to have forced a rethink as India try to win a Test series they looked destined to lose after the first two days of the second Test, which they eventually won by seven wickets.

The 23-year-old Agarkar has already played in 10 Tests without notable success, taking just 24 wickets. Considered to be an allrounder, he has also failed with the bat, averaging just 8.26 and having been dismissed for a duck in eight out of his 16 Test innings thus far.

Agarkar, a member of the one-day squad in the Sri Lanka during the Coca-Cola Cup earlier this month, is expected to arrive in Colombo on Sunday or Monday morning.