Srinath back, Mishra in

The latest chapter in the Javagal Srinath saga began on a positive note with his inclusion in the Indian squad for the first Test against West Indies which starts in Mumbai on Wednesday. Rookie legspinner Amit Mishra was the only surprise inclusion, though he may not find a place in the final XI, with Harbhajan Singh and Anil Kumble likely to be the two spinners playing, supported by the pace duo of Zaheer Khan and Srinath. Ajit Agarkar was omitted from the squad after his dismal showing with the ball in England, as were Tinu Yohannan and Wasim Jaffer. Ajay Ratra also got the boot, with Parthiv Patel chosen as wicketkeeper. Both SS Das and Sanjay Bangar were in the squad, with Bangar favoured to continue in his role as Virender Sehwag's opening partner.

Interestingly, in the first squad they have selected, Brijesh Patel and his newteam of selectors have shown an inclination to continue with the policy of Chandu Borde and co., of backing young players and not being afraid to experiment. Picking two legspinners is a bold move - Sarandeep Singh or Murali Kartik would have been the clichéd choices for third spinner, but Patel and his men, clearly, are not afraid of backing their instincts.

Indian squad 1 Sourav Ganguly (capt), 2 Virender Sehwag, 3 Sanjay Bangar, 4 Rahul Dravid, 5 Sachin Tendulkar, 6 VVS Laxman, 7 Parthiv Patel (wk), 8 Anil Kumble, 9 Harbhajan Singh, 10 Javagal Srinath, 11 Zaheer Khan, 12 Ashish Nehra, 13 SS Das, 14 Amit Mishra.