Indian team off without Agarkar

The Sourav Ganguly-led Indian cricket team on Monday flew out on its a 66-day tour of South Africa without all-rounder Ajit Agarkar.

Agarkar, a last minute replacement for speedster Ashish Nehra, who was declared unfit for the triangular one-day series starting on October 5, will leave on Tuesday as he is yet to receive his visa.

On Saturday, Nehra became the third player from the original squad to be ruled unfit for the one-day series. V V S Laxman and Zaheer Khan had earlier opted out as they had not fully recovered from their respective injuries. Left-hander Hemang Badani, a stand-by who was named Laxman's replacement, injured himself during a domestic tournament and he too couldn't make it to the team.

India will play three Tests against South Africa and a triangular one-day series involving South Africa and Kenya.

There will be some changes in the team for the Test series, starting on November 3.

Mail Cricket Editor