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Amjad named Sidebottom's replacement
Kent pacer Amjad Khan, so far a member of the performance squad, will replace injured pacer Ryan Sidebottom in the England team for the Test series.
- Press Trust of India
- Updated: December 07, 2008 11:23 AM IST
Read Time: 2 min
Abu Dhabi:
Young Yorkshire leg-spinner Adil Rashid will also travel to Chennai for the first Test even though he is yet to be officially named in the Test squad.
Incidentally, England will miss the service of Stuart Broad in the Chennai Test with the Nottinghamshire pacer recovering from a hamstring injury.
Amjad, who was born in Copenhagen and was a Danish international before he got the British citizenship in 2006, pipped Sajid Mahmood and Liam Plunkett for a place in the side.
Though the team is here awaiting for a green signal from security expert Reg Dickason before flying to India, coach Peter Moores conceded Steve Harmison and Andrew Flintoff are reluctant to tour the country following the terror attacks in Mumbai.
"Fred has had issues and it's fair to say Steve Harmison has as well," Moores said.
"The important message from me is that we respect people and allow them to have their views. That's okay - they are human beings," said the England coach.
Harmison, meanwhile, described it as one of the greatest decisions of his career and said he has a right to return home if he deems it right.
"As we prepare to make one of the biggest decisions of our careers this evening, it is sad to think that the England players here may not be remembered at the end of their career for what they did on the field as much as whether or not they went back to India.
"Whatever we hear at our security briefing tonight in Abu Dhabi, I reserve the right to make my own decision to fly home on Monday if it is the right thing to do," he wrote in his column for The Mail on Sunday.
Sharing his dilemma, the England pacer said, "On the one shoulder a voice has been telling me: 'Stuff the terrorists. Get in there, play the Test and give it your best shot'.
"Then the man on my other shoulder pipes up: 'Think about this. You are going into a country some are describing as a war zone. You've got a family and four kids. Is it right to put yourself at risk?'.
"Although I've still got a load of questions about the rights and wrongs of going back, on the balance of probabilities I reckon I will if the security report is positive," added the pacer.
In case both Harmison and Flintoff pull out, England can turn to the performance squad to find replacements in Mahmood or Plunkett, besides having a look at either Samit Patel or Ravi Bopara.
Kent pacer Amjad Khan, so far a member of the performance squad, will replace injured pacer Ryan Sidebottom in the England team for the two-Test series against India.Young Yorkshire leg-spinner Adil Rashid will also travel to Chennai for the first Test even though he is yet to be officially named in the Test squad.
Incidentally, England will miss the service of Stuart Broad in the Chennai Test with the Nottinghamshire pacer recovering from a hamstring injury.
Amjad, who was born in Copenhagen and was a Danish international before he got the British citizenship in 2006, pipped Sajid Mahmood and Liam Plunkett for a place in the side.
Though the team is here awaiting for a green signal from security expert Reg Dickason before flying to India, coach Peter Moores conceded Steve Harmison and Andrew Flintoff are reluctant to tour the country following the terror attacks in Mumbai.
"Fred has had issues and it's fair to say Steve Harmison has as well," Moores said.
"The important message from me is that we respect people and allow them to have their views. That's okay - they are human beings," said the England coach.
Harmison, meanwhile, described it as one of the greatest decisions of his career and said he has a right to return home if he deems it right.
"As we prepare to make one of the biggest decisions of our careers this evening, it is sad to think that the England players here may not be remembered at the end of their career for what they did on the field as much as whether or not they went back to India.
"Whatever we hear at our security briefing tonight in Abu Dhabi, I reserve the right to make my own decision to fly home on Monday if it is the right thing to do," he wrote in his column for The Mail on Sunday.
Sharing his dilemma, the England pacer said, "On the one shoulder a voice has been telling me: 'Stuff the terrorists. Get in there, play the Test and give it your best shot'.
"Then the man on my other shoulder pipes up: 'Think about this. You are going into a country some are describing as a war zone. You've got a family and four kids. Is it right to put yourself at risk?'.
"Although I've still got a load of questions about the rights and wrongs of going back, on the balance of probabilities I reckon I will if the security report is positive," added the pacer.
In case both Harmison and Flintoff pull out, England can turn to the performance squad to find replacements in Mahmood or Plunkett, besides having a look at either Samit Patel or Ravi Bopara.
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Amjad Khan
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