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Agarkar, Harbhajan, Kambli in second list of probables for World Cup

All-rounder Ajit Agarkar, off-spinner Harbhajan Singh, dashing left-handed batsman Vinod Kambli and wicket-keeper Syed Saba Karim have been included in the second list of probables for the cricket World Cup in England in May-June this year.

The national selection committee today announced 15 more probables for the event. These names are in addition to the 15 that were already declared and are playing in New Zealand.

Besides the selection committee -- chairman Ajit Wadekar, Madan Lal Sharma, Shivlal Yadav, Ashok Malhotra and Anil Deshpande -- Jaywant Lele, secretary of the Board of Control for Cricket in India, was present at the meeting in Calcutta.

The second list: Agarkar, Kambli, Harbhajan Singh, Saba Karim, Devang Gandhi, Sadagopan Ramesh, Gagan Khoda, Jacob Martin, M S K Prasad, Laxmi Ratan Shukla, Gyanendra Pandey, Varinder Sehwag, Rahul Sanghvi, Amay Khurasia and Doddanarasaiah Ganesh.

The selectors also chose a 14-member India 'A' team to play a three-day match against Pakistan from January 26 to 28.

The team is: V V S Laxman, Devang Gandhi, S Ramesh, Jacob Martin, Mohammed Kaif, Varinder Sehwag, Dodda Ganesh, Laxmi Ratan Shukla, Rahul Sanghvi, Harbhajan Singh, Sitanshu Kotak, H Ramkishen, Saba Karim and Amay Khurasia.

Later, speaking to reporters, Wadekar said that though the side touring New Zealand is good enough for the World Cup, one or two of the 15 selected today stand a good chance of being included in the final team.

The second list of probables were selected on the basis of their current form, he said.

Though the World Cup begins in May, the International Cricket Council had advised the BCCI to submit a list of 30 probables three months in advance.

The selection committee will bring down the list of 30 to 20 and finally 15 will be chosen on March 31. The captain and vice-captain will also be named on that day.

Though the committee did not consult Indian skipper Mohammed Azharuddin, it had a discussion with secretary Lele before selecting the probables and the India 'A' team, Wadekar said.

The Indian team will leave for England 10 days in advance to play seven practice matches against county teams and get acclimatised to the local conditions. They are supposed to reach England by May 10.

Wadekar said many other names like Jatin Paranjpe, Nikhil Haldipur, J P Yadav, Rajesh Sutar, Paras Mhambrey, Ram Kishen, Nilesh Kulkarni, Robin Singh (Jr), Abhijit Kale, Rohan Gavaskar and Ashish Winston Zaidi came up for discussion, but they lost out on current form.

UNI