Das to sit out against Hampshire

Keen to experiment with all available options ahead of the first Test against England next week, the Indian cricket team decided to leave out struggling opener Shiv Sunder Das for the three-day game against Hampshire, in Southampton, beginning on Saturday.

Das, who seems to have hit a prolonged bad patch after faring badly on the tour of the West Indies, got out cheaply in both innings of the three-day match against the West Indies 'A', which ended in a draw at Arundel on Thursday.

The exclusion of Das means all-rounder Sanjay Bangar would be asked to open the innings with Wasim Jaffer. Bangar did not have a particularly impressive performance with the bat against the West Indies 'A', managing a nought and 27 in the two innings, but he is almost certain to play the first Test. He bowled beautifully at Arundel, swinging the ball both ways, even though he picked just one wicket. He could provide solidity to the line-up if he comes good as an opener in this match.

The match will also see the return of the big three -- skipper Sourav Ganguly, Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid -- who were given a break in the previous game.

Unlike the match against the West Indies 'A', the Indians have decided to go in with just one specialist wicketkeeper and have preferred Ajay Ratra over Parthiv Patel even though the latter gave glimpses of his tremendous talent at Arundel.

Ratra was unimpressive behind the wickets in the game against the West Indies 'A' and had difficulty in bringing himself in line with the swinging deliveries, but that was understandable considering it was his first major outing in a month's time.

The third player to be left out is Ajit Agarkar, who bowled exceptionally well at Arundel.

Hampshire has many talented and experienced cricketers and cannot be taken lightly even though it has suffered three loses in four games in recent weeks in the domestic championship.

Hampshire's batting still revolves around former England player Robin Smith, who recently scored his 49th hundred and is looking forward to getting his 50th against the Indians against whom he struck two centuries during the three-Test series in 1990.

Smith is also looking forward to matching his wits against India's young bowling sensation Harbhajan Singh.

A fine player of spin bowling, Smith said he is more than ready to face Harbhajan in tomorrow's game.

"I played against Anil Kumble when he played for Northamptonshire in the mid-90s but it would be interesting to take on the Indian 'turbantor' (Harbhajan)," Smith said.

The team also has interesting names in Neil Johnson, who played international cricket for Zimbabwe not very long ago, and Alan Mulally, the left-arm pacemen who first played in Tests against India in 1996 and till recently was an integral part of the England attack.

But the focus would be on batsman John Crawley, who is likely to be named as a replacement for England opener Marcus Trescothick, who broke his thumb in a county game this week and has been ruled out of the Test series against India.

Crawley, who has played 30 Tests for England and made 1401 runs, last played a Test recently against Sri Lanka at Lord's, making 31 and 41 not out in the two innings.

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