England face pacy reception

England will face a hostile reception when they land in India next week, after the squad was announced for their opening warm-up against an Indian Board XI at Baroda.

The Board XI attack will be led by Munaf Patel and VRV Singh, who are reputed to be the fastest bowlers in the country, and who are both being given an opportunity to impress ahead of the first Test in Nagpur on March 1.

The attack also includes SS Paul, a medium pacer, one of the leading wicket-takers in the Ranji Trophy this year, while the batting line-up is made up of several hopefuls for international honours.

Wasim Jaffer and Gautam Gambhir both toured Pakistan last month without playing in a Test, while Suresh Riana is a promising young left-hander and a part of India's one-day set-up.

The team is captained by Venugopal Rao, who has played 11 ODIs and has been a prolific batsman on the domestic circuit. The match is a three-day affair, starting on February 23.

Board XI squad Venugopal Rao (capt), Wasim Jaffer, Gautam Gambhir, Suresh Raina, S. Badrinath, Dinesh Karthik, Dheeraj Jadhav, Pragyan Ojha, Amit Mishra, Ramesh Powar, SS Paul, Sreesanth, Munaf Patel, VRV Singh.