Setbacks have come thick and fast for England [Images] as they aim to win their first Test series in India for 21 years.

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All rounder Andrew Flintoff [Images] will lead the team for the first time because skipper Michael Vaughan [Images] has been ruled out with a knee injury two days after vice captain Marcus Trescothick [Images] withdrew for personal reasons.

Fast bowler Simon Jones became the latest casualty when he twisted his left knee in the nets on Monday.

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The 27-year-old, who blossomed into a world class bowler against Australia last year, will miss the first test, which starts on Wednesday, and return home to be seen by a specialist.

"I've never known such a combination of injury and illness to such a degree," England chairman of selectors David Graveney told BBC Radio.

"We've obviously had massive problems but these things happen and we're not just going to down tools and not compete on Wednesday.

"We will put on the park 11 people who are proud to represent their country and compete against India."

Batsmen Kevin Pietersen [Images] and Paul Collingwood [Images] are struggling to recover from back problems and England's management have called up Essex opening batsman Alastair Cook [Images], seamer James Anderson and batsman Owais Shah as injury cover.

They may not be the last.

Flintoff appears unfazed by the prospect of taking on the home side with ever-diminishing resources.

"It is an opportunity for a young side, opportunities arise for young players to show the character and strength of this England side," Flintoff said.

SPIN TROUBLE

Robbed of left-arm spinner Ashley Giles due to injury, England's untested spin trio of Shaun Udal, Monty Panesar [Images] and Ian Blackwell look unlikely to trouble Indian batsmen weaned on slow bowling.

England last won a Test series in India in 1985 under the captaincy of David Gower, their two tours of the country since resulted in 3-0 and 1-0 defeats.

The eight-wicket defeat by the President's XI gave England's batsmen an early indication of the bowling onslaught they can expect in Nagpur.

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After preparing for the guile of Anil Kumble [Images] and Harbhajan Singh [Images], the tourists were ambushed by uncapped paceman Munaf Patel [Images]. The 22-year-old son of a small-scale cotton farmer bowled with fire to capture five wickets in each innings.

India's selectors have gone for youth and included several up-and-coming players in their squad while axing former captain Saurav Ganguly [Images].

"We are looking to the future," chief selector Kiran More said. "The Test team also is going to be more or less like the one-day team."

Uncapped seamers Vikram Rajvir Singh and S.Sreesanth [Images] and one-day batsman Suresh Raina have been called up, as was 17-year-old leg-spinner Piyush Chawla [Images], seen as a successor to Kumble.

Kumble, 35, needs just six wickets to reach 500, which would make him only the fifth bowler in test history to achieve the feat.