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Dhaka, May 9: Ramesh Powar and Dinesh Mongia are set to make their comeback after being shortlisted in India's 12-member list for the first cricket one-dayer against Bangladesh here tomorrow.
The Indian think-tank left out leg-spinner Piyush Chawla and left-arm pacer Rudra Pratap Singh from the 15 while rookie Manoj Tiwary has already been ruled out with a shoulder injury.
In all probability, the race to make it to the final 11 would be between Gautam Gambhir and Robin Uthappa, two of the three openers along with Virender
Sehwag.
Mongia last turned out for India against South Africa at Centurion in December while Powar played his last ODI in January against the West Indies.
Captain Rahul Dravid said the wicket at the Sher-e-Bangla stadium looked firm and could take a "bit of spin and grip a little later on."
Bangladesh also have their share of fitness worries and they are likely to miss pace spearhead Mashrafe Mortaza, who has a lower back problem and would undergo a fitness test this evening. Mortaza was architect of Bangladesh's World Cup upset win against India with his four-wicket burst.
The pacer yesterday complained of the chronic back pain after bowling in the nets for about 20 minutes. Team's Kiwi physio Paul Close did not give details but said, "He is feeling the pain." This has prevented the hosts from finalising their playing XI.
There was a slight drizzle this morning. The fans would be hoping the rains keep away and pave way for an interesting clash tomorrow.
The teams (from):
India: Rahul Dravid (captain), Gautam Gambhir, Robin Uthappa, Virender Sehwag, Yuvraj Singh, Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Dinesh Kaarthick, Dinesh Mongia, Ramesh Powar, S Sreesanth, Munaf Patel, Zaheer Khan.
Bangladesh: Habibul Bashar (captain), Mohammad Ashraful (vice-captain), Javed Omar, Tamim Iqbal, Shahriar Nafees, Aftab Ahmed, Saqibul Hasan, Musfiqur Rahim, Mashrafe Mortaza, Syed Russel, Abdur Razzak, Shahadat Hossain, Mohammad Rafique and Farhad Reza. (Agencies)
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