Siddiqui sends England reeling at Jaipur India 'A' gave the visiting England side a warm welcome before showing them just how tough they can be at the Sawai Man Singh Stadium in Jaipur. Put in to bat on a real greentop of a wicket, India 'A' got off to a horrific start with Richard Johnson scalping three quick wickets, and they were really up against it at 8/4. That is when the fightback began. Abhijit Kale stroked a high-quality century, ending with 122, while Gagan Khoda was all style and panache in his innings of 64. India 'A' made 233/9 declared, but England in response could muster just a paltry 170, decimated by the bowling of Iqbal Siddiqui. The Maharashtra quick bowled with pace and rhythm, bagging four wickets for 53 runs. In their second essay, India 'A' ended the second day's play on 75/3. Leading by 138 runs, India 'A' will be a handful for England going into the final day on a crumbling, two-paced (and fairly typical!) Indian wicket.

New-look pace machine to greet England at Mohali When the going gets tough, the tough are supposed to get going. In South Africa, where things were tough for the Indian team, the medium-pacers failed to get going in conditions that assisted their trade. In response, the national selectors have sent the whole lot packing just before the series against England. While Venkatesh Prasad and Javagal Srinath were spared the ignominy of being dropped since they were already injured, the trio of Zaheer Khan, Ashish Nehra and Ajit Agarkar were axed. Taking their places are the uncapped, unsung-yet-talented Tinu Yohannan, Iqbal Siddiqui and Sanjay Bangar. The rest of the Indian team remains as is. Connor Williams, by virtue of his showing in the unofficial 'Test' against South Africa, retains his spot as Shiv Sunder Das' opening partner. The middle-order, which boasts some of the biggest names and brightest talents in the game - Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, VVS Laxman and Sourav Ganguly - escapes all manner of selectoral censure, while Deep Dasgupta will continue to don the gloves. The crux of the forthcoming tour, however, is going to be India's spin attack. Harbhajan Singh and Anil Kumble will do the bulk of the bowling, with Sarandeep Singh waiting on the sidelines to be called upon if needed. Virender Sehwag, who is unlikely to play given the recent controversy over his suspension, completes the fourteen. England had better take note. The Indian pacers might seem inexperienced, but they must definitely be keen to have a go at the visiting batsmen!

Abhijit Kale - the straight-talking centurion Mumbai could not find a place for him in their team. On switching teams and playing for Maharashtra, however, Abhijit Kale has quietly made a name for himself as a batsman with a mature approach. From his natural position as an opener, Kale was forced to move to the middle-order, but he took this too in his stride. His moment of glory, though, came only recently when he cracked a century against England in conditions that aided both swing and seam. With the score on 8/4, Kale led the India 'A' fightback. Speaking to pressmen shortly after his innings, he said, "This is the quickest wicket I've played on and, early on, Flintoff was bowling really fast. I just stuck around initially and made the best of it." On the English spinners, Kale chuckled, "They were just bowling line and length. The off-spinner was only bowling straight deliveries!"

You decide. Should Virender Sehwag be included in the eleven that takes the field in Mohali? Get both sides of the argument in Third Umpire. Click Here India A's first-innings wrecker-in-chief speaks his mind to the press. Catch the Richard Johnson interview. Click Here Featured: the Bristol Ball, the story of an obscure off-spinner who suddenly found himself in the English squad. Check out the Martyn Ball story. Click Here