Sports

India retain winning squad for second Test

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India won the first Test in New Delhi by five wickets on Wednesday to take the lead in the three-match series, their last Test outing before next month's high-profile tour of Australia.

The hosts won with a day to spare after debutant off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin, who replaced the out-of-favour Harbhajan Singh, picked up nine wickets and was named the man of the match.

Ashwin's match figures of 9-128 were the second-best by an Indian debutant behind leg-spinner and current selector Narendra Hirwani's 16-136 against the West Indies at Chennai in 1988.

The second Test will be played at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata from Monday. The squad for the final match in Mumbai from November 22 will be picked later.

India are due to tour Australia for a four-Test series starting in Melbourne on December 26, followed by two Twenty20 internationals and a one-day tri-series also featuring Sri Lanka.

India's squad for second Test:

Mahendra Singh Dhoni (capt), Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar, Venkatsai Laxman, Virat Kohli, Yuvraj Singh, Ajinkya Rahane, Ravichandran Ashwin, Pragyan Ojha, Rahul Sharma, Ishant Sharma, Umesh Yadav, Varun Aaron.

Copyright AFP (Agence France-Presse), 2010