The wait is finally over. The thirty-one India Under-19 probables congregated at Mumbai can now rest assured. Just one day before the India Under-19 side takes on England Under-19 at the Wankhede stadium for a 'Test' match, a squad of fifteen was announced. Ajay Ratra, one of two members from the side that won the Under-19 World Cup in Sri Lanka, finds himself leading this side against the tourists. The visiting England Under-19 side would be a bit wary of this side, having been at the receiving end of some punishment from Y Gnaneswara Rao, who is the vice captain of this team and offspinner Mulewa Dharmichand.

The other player who will play a key part in the coming Test series is Delhi southpaw Gautam Gambhir. The opener has already seen his share of top grade cricket, playing in the Ranji Trophy for his state. Haryana's Ishan Ganda relishes the chance to make a name for himself as does allrounder Kashinath Khadkikar. Ganda made a pile of runs in the recently concluded Cooch Behar Trophy and helped Haryana clinch the title. Khadkikar too has enjoyed a good run of form in the age group cricket he has played.

Sadly, the selectors named the squad of fifteen as late as the day before the match. This left coach Roger Binny no time to schedule a team practice. Although the squad practiced together, there was no time for the group to practice as a team. What it also did, was put the squad in a tricky situation. Last evening, ten of the thirty-one probables were asked to move into the Taj President Hotel. The others remained in the club house at the Wankhede stadium. While the players did not complain at all, this is certainly not how anyone representing their country should be treated.

Vinayak Mane will take on the England side at his home ground. Mane, who made his Irani Trophy debut this season has a string of big scores to his name, including a top score of 167 opening the innings. With Ratra leading the side, one wonders what role Parthiv Patel will play. Although a competent left handed batsman in his own right, one can't see Patel being played purely as a batsman.

The spin department is well endowed in this India Under-19 squad. Two offspinners, Mulewa Dharmichand and Kashinath Khadkikar will relish their prospects against an England team with more left handed batsmen than right. The right handers in the England side better beware too. Tamil Nadu left arm spinner Vidyuth Sivaramakrishnan will be turning the ball away from them and looking for wickets. Having played against the senior Zimbabwe team for the National Cricket Academy, Sivaramakrishnan is no stranger to top class cricket. One must also remember that although he was in the squad that won the Under-19 World Cup, he did not get to play a single game. That is something that will no doubt be a strong memory for Sivaramakrishnan.

Nitin Agarwal, Siddharth Trivedi, Alind Naidu, Amit Misra, Arindam Das and Manvinder Singh complete the squad.

Although England Under-19s lost their game against Rest of India, the India side would do well to go into the match with caution. The bowling figures of the spinners in the warm-up game are not totally representative of the state of play. England might be taking time to acclimatise, but they are no mugs with the bat. Captain Ian Bell has played in similar conditions before and is keen to do well. "We know that we're going to prove a lot of people wrong, come out and do really well," said Bell in an earlier interview to CricInfo. If the pitches are reasonably even, we could have a very competitive series on our hands.

The squad: Ajay Ratra (captain), Y Gnaneswara Rao (vice- captain), Gautam Gambhir, Vinayak Mane, Ishan Ganda, Kashinath Khadkikar, Vidyuth Sivaramakrishnan, Parthiv Patel, Mulewa Dharmichand, Nitin Agarwal, Siddharth Trivedi, Alind Naidu, Amit Misra, Arindam Das and Manvinder Singh.

© CricInfo