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No replacement for injured Ramesh

The Indian team, after going down for its second straight defeat, has decided not to ask for a replacement for injured opener Sadagopan Ramesh.

Ramesh had his left thumb broken by an express delivery from Brett Lee, late in the evening of the fourth day, and will not be able to play in the third and final Test in Sydney.

Skipper Sachin Tendulkar indicated that the team will not be asking the board for a replacement opener to be flown over.

"We will probably take an extra spinner into the side, since Sydney is a turning track," Tendulkar said after his team crashed to a 180-run defeat at the Melbourne Cricket Ground today.

That comment seems to indicate that India will go in to the Sydney Test with a three-seam, two-spin combination.

That raises the question of who will open with VVS Laxman, himself not in the best of form. The options are Rahul Dravid, who in any case has been functioning as de facto opener given how rapidly the Indian first wicket has been falling; MSK Prasad, who has in Melbourne shown some heart when confronted by the pace of McGrath and Brett Lee; and Hrishikesh Kanitkar, who played a composed hand of 45 in the second innings at Melbourne.

Tendulkar, however, wasn't forthcoming about the team's choice of opener, saying merely that the team would take a decision after getting to Sydney and examining the conditions there.