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India delay decision on fitness of Kumble and Sharma

02/04/2008

India will delay decisions on the fitness of bowlers Anil Kumble and Ishant Sharma until the morning of the second Test against South Africa.

The hosts have already lost batsman Sachin Tendulkar for the match and could now be without their captain, Kumble, as well as one of their key pace bowlers.

Kumble is suffering from a groin strain which he picked up during the first match of the series against the Proteas, while Sharma is slowly coming back to fitness after sustaining a numbers of injuries during the tour of Australia.

"We will wait until Thursday morning to take a final call on who all are fit for the Test match," said Kumble.

In the absence of Tendulkar, Kumble said India plan to promote VVS Laxman from sixth in the batting order up to fourth.

Despite their injury concerns the spinner is confident his side can build on their dominance of the first Test which ended in a draw.

He said: "We have enough potential and quality to do the job.

"We have worked out some plans to ensure that we put pressure on the South Africans and get the right result."

South Africa coach Micky Arthur is hoping his side can take advantage of India's injuries, however, he feels that the fully-fit Virender Sehwag will be the key wicket for them to get and the Proteas have developed a plan.

He said: "We think we can target him with some short balls into his body and cramp him for space."

The second Test begins in Ahmedabad tomorrow with the series currently level.