Shah could be released

Owais Shah may be allowed to play in the Twenty20 Champions League games

England are considering the possibility of releasing Owais Shah from their warm-up match before the first Test against India to enable him to play in Middlesex Crusaders' Champions League group games.

Middlesex asked England if Shah could be available for the qualifying games of the lucrative Twenty20 competition, which are being staged immediately after the final one-day international in Delhi.

England initially refused Middlesex's request and wanted to keep Shah with the main squad for the three-day warm-up match in Baroda and the build-up to the first Test in Ahmedabad on December 11.

But coach Peter Moores has now softened his stance and will release Shah, providing he is not required for the match in Baroda when England are likely to field their Test line-up.

That would allow him to play in Middlesex's matches against Victoria Bushrangers in Mumbai on December 3, against Pretoria Titans on December 5 and against Chennai Super Kings two days later.

"If Owais isn't involved in the Baroda game we'd look to make him available," confirmed Moores. "We're looking at every possibility because we know it's a big tournament.

"He wants to play competitive cricket and we finish (the one-day matches) on the 2nd and Middlesex's zonal games are on the 3rd, 5th and 6th so we'd look to make him available for those without affecting our preparation if he's involved in that first Test."

No decision has yet been made about whether Shah will be free to continue playing for Middlesex if they reach either the semi-finals on December 8 and 9 or the final the day after as that would interfere with the build-up to the Test.