IND vs SA: Selection for 1st Test postponed

The national selection committee meeting, to pick the Indian squad for the first Test against South Africa, will be held in Bangalore on March 17 instead of March 9 in Mumbai.

A press release by the Board of Control for Cricket in India said on Thursday that the schedule of the meeting was changed at the behest of chief selector Dilip Vengsarkar. Vengsarkar wanted to watch some Deodhar Trophy matches with his colleagues before finalising the team.

The first Test against South Africa will played in Chennai's M.A. Chidambaram Stadium March 26-30. The other two Tests will be in Ahmedabad (April 3-7) and Kanpur (April 11-15).

The South Africans will land in Chennai on March 21.

All the players who returned home from Australia after the Test series will be put through fitness tests at the National Cricket Academy in Bangalore Friday. Test skipper Anil Kumble, Rahul Dravid and Sourav Ganguly, V.V.S. Laxman and Wasim Jaffer, who had returned after the Tests in January, will undergo fitness assessments as well.

Injured fast bowlers Zaheer Khan and R.P. Singh will be checked for their fitness levels before the selectors meet. While Zaheer is getting his ankle treated in South Africa, Singh returned home from Australia with a stretched hamstring.