Karthik heads recalled India trio

Dinesh Karthik kept wicket in his captain's absence in the recent Test match in Chittagong, but could play as a batsman in Kolkata

Buy this photo

India’s selectors have rung the changes for the second Test against South Africa in Kolkata after an inexperienced team suffered a heavy defeat in the first Test today.

Wriddhiman Saha, the wicketkeeper who played as a specialist batsman in Nagpur, was dropped from a 15-man squad along with fast bowlers Sudeep Tyagi and Abhimanyu Mithun and batsman Rohit Sharma, none of whom made the XI for the innings-and-six-run loss.

Their places in the squad for Eden Gardens are taken by seamer Sreesanth and batsmen Dinesh Karthik and Suresh Raina. India must win to avoid a series defeat.

VVS Laxman, who missed the first Test due to injury, was also retained in the party.

Karthik, who also keeps wicket, had shown excellent form in the Duleep Trophy last week, scoring centuries in both innings.

Sreesanth suffered a thigh strain in the first Test against Bangladesh last month, but returns to the party following a rehabilitation stint at the National Cricket Academy.

India squad: Mahendra Singh Dhoni (captain, wkt), Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Murali Vijay, Sachin Tendulkar, VVS Laxman, Subramaniam Badrinath, Harbhajan Singh, Zaheer Khan, Amit Mishra, Ishant Sharma, Sreesanth, Pragyan Ojha, Dinesh Karthik (wkt), Suresh Raina.