Hit by a viral bug which has left several players indisposed, the Indian team
management was today forced to seek the services of Baroda paceman Rakesh Patel
to make up the numbers for the first ODI against South Africa.
Patel, a right-arm paceman, who is currently playing in England has been
send an SOS to join the team which has been hit hard by a bout of viral fever
with as many as six players being affected.
With India's pace department being the biggest casualty, Patel,
currently playing for St Helens in the First Division of the Business Assistance
Liverpool Competition, has been asked to reach Ireland by tomorrow morning.
The trio of S Sreesanth, Ajit Agarkar and R P Singh
have all fallen ill and missed the training session today.
Besides these three, Mahendra Singh Dhoni, who was the
first one to be affected by viral fever and missed the match against Ireland,
and Ramesh Powar also missed the training session.
Back home, the BCCI has also decided to rush pacers Ranadeb Bose
and Ishant Sharma as cover for the sick players. But they would
be able to join the team in two days time.
"Ajit Agarkar, Sreesanth and Dhoni are still to recover
fully and as a precautionary measure the team management after consulting the
Board has requested Rakesh Patel of Baroda who is currently playing league in
England to reach Ireland tomorrow," BCCI said in a release.
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