Bangladesh opt to bat against India Virender Sehwag lost the toss in his first outing as Indian captain and Bangladesh had little hesitation in choosing to bat in almost-perfect conditions. Dhaka had experienced the obligatory thunderstorms on Monday night but with the skies having reverted back to bright-blue mode, it remained to be seen how the pitch behaved. The mercury was once again through the roof, with temperatures in the middle soaring to the mid-forties (Celsius). India rested Ganguly, struggling with a bad back, and Zaheer Khan, who limped off the field with a strained hamstring against South Africa. Sanjay Bangar, one of three members of the World Cup squad not to get a game, came in for the captain, and Avishkar Salvi, who made an immediate impression on debut against Bangladesh last Friday, replaced Zaheer. There were two unenforced changes as well, with Sarandeep Singh coming in for Harbhajan Singh, and Abhijit Kale making his debut . at the age of 29, and after half a decade of heavy run-scoring at domestic level - in place of Yuvraj Singh. Click here for the Scorecard

Smith too young to captain South Africa - Woolmer Former South Africa coach Bob Woolmer thinks the team's new captain Graeme Smith is too young and inexperienced to lead his country. "Graeme is a good cricketer, but I don't think he should captain the side," Woolmer, who is in Dubai to conduct a coaching clinic for young players, told reporters on Tuesday. "Graeme is too young and hasn't done his apprenticeship yet. To be the captain of an international side, one needs to go through the apprenticeship period and do a lot of hard work to get there," he added. The 22-year-old Smith was appointed South Africa captain last month after Shaun Pollock was sacked following the team's poor showing in the World Cup. He became the second youngest captain in one-day international history when he led his side for the first time on Sunday against India who won the match by a massive 153 runs. "His inexperience showed during South Africa's match against India on Sunday in Dhaka when he decided to bowl Shaun Pollock after the 28th over," Woolmer said. "I fail to understand the logic behind bowling him so late. A ridiculous decision indeed since Shaun is a wonderful bowler with the new ball," the Englishman added. Woolmer, the ICC's high-performance officer, said that in his opinion there was no reason to sack Pollock. "It was like disarming the team," he said. "South Africa over-reacted to certain things that happened during the World Cup."

Tendulkar to undergo surgery on hand injury Sachin Tendulkar will undergo surgery later this month to mend a long-term bone injury in his left hand, an Indian cricket official said on Tuesday. The top Indian batsman will have the operation in the United States, said Amrit Mathur, communications manager of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI). "It is a bone injury. He is expected to take about a month to recover," Mathur said. The injury at the base of Tendulkar's left ring finger occured late last year and it flared up during the World Cup in South Africa, where India lost to Australia in last month's final. Tendulkar played in the World Cup with a mildly bandaged hand to reduce the pain when catching and fielding.

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