There were two new faces and three recalls in the Indian team for the first three of the six-match one-day series against England, starting January 19 at the Eden Gardens, Kolkata. Sanjay Bangar replaced Reetinder Singh Sodhi as the team's allrounder while Ajay Ratra edged out Deep Dasgupta as its wicketkeeper. Dinesh Mongia and Hemang Badani, both hugely successful in the four-match Challenger Trophy preceding the selection meeting, were re-inducted into the middle-order as Yuvraj Singh paid the price for a horrid series in South Africa last October. Zaheer Khan, who couldn't participate in that tournament due to injury, is back in the squad, staving off challenges from Tinu Yohannan and Ashish Nehra.

Three specialist spinners were picked: Anil Kumble and Harbhajan Singh were joined by Sarandeep Singh, who couldn't be resisted after his five-for in what was effectively the semi-final of the Challenger. "Probably only two spinners will play," explained selection-committee chairman Chandu Borde, "but we wanted to have more options."

Meanwhile, the pace-bowling department will be managed by Javagal Srinath, Ajit Agarkar and Zaheer, with Bangar for support.

India squad Batsmen
Sourav Ganguly (capt) Bengal age 29
Sachin Tendulkar Mumbai age 28
VVS Laxman Hyderabad age 27
Virender Sehwag Delhi age 23
Hemang Badani Tamil Nadu age 25
Dinesh Mongia Punjab age 24

Allrounder
Sanjay Bangar Railways age 29

Wicketkeeper
Ajay Ratra Haryana age 20

Spinners
Anil Kumble Karnataka age 31
Harbhajan Singh Punjab age 21
Sarandeep Singh Delhi age 22

Seamers
Javagal Srinath Karnataka age 32
Ajit Agarkar Mumbai age 24
Zaheer Khan Baroda age 23

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