Sunil Joshi to lead India 'A'

Karnataka left-arm spinner Sunil Joshi has been selected to lead India 'A' against the touring English squad in their three-day match at Jaipur starting from November 27.

The India 'A' squad also includes Vinayak Mane, Gagan Khoda and Gautam Gambhir, potential candidates for the perennially troubling Indian opening slot. Gambhir, Yere Goud, Khoda and Reetinder Singh Sodhi all staked their claims for spots in the team with strong performances in the ongoing rounds of Ranji Trophy league matches.

Ajay Ratra, initially intended to fly out to South Africa to replace the injured Sameer Dighe, has also been picked for the team, precluding any possibility of his participation in the Test series in South Africa.

Baroda middle-order batsman Jacob Martin, having returned from an unfruitful Standard Bank tri-series in South Africa, is to lead the Board President's XI in their three-day match against England at Hyderabad starting from November 22.

Promising Delhi off-spinner Sarandeep Singh, Punjab batsmen Dinesh Mongia and Pankaj Dharmani, and Railways left-arm spinner Murali Kartik are among those named for the President's XI by virtue of impressive performances in domestic cricket.

The teams:

Board President's XI: Jacob Martin (capt), Irfan Pathan (Jr) and Rakesh Patel (all from Baroda) Wasim Jaffer (Mumbai), S Sriram (Tamil Nadu), Dinesh Mongia and Pankaj Dharmani (both from Punjab), Sanjay Bangar and Murali Kartik (both from Railways), Rohan Gavaskar (Bengal), T Yohannan (Kerala), Sharandeep Singh (Delhi), Surendar Singh (Jammu and Kashmir) and R Druv (Saurashtra). Manager: Madan Lal.

India 'A': Sunil Joshi (capt), Dodda Ganesh (both from Karnataka), Vinayak Mane and Ramesh Powar (both from Mumbai, Abhijit Kale and Iqbal Siddique (both from Maharashtra), N P Singh and S Yadav (both from Hyderabad), Gautam Gambhir (Delhi), Yere Goud (Railways), P R Parida (Orissa), Ajay Ratra (Haryana), Reetinder Singh Sodhi (Punjab) and Gagan Khoda (Rajasthan). Manager: Shivlal Yadav.