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Ishant Sharma, recovering from the mosquito-borne viral infection chikungunya, will miss the first Test of the series against New Zealand, which begins on September 22 in Kanpur.Anil Kumble, the India coach, did not rule Ishant out of the series, though. We will be closely monitoring his progress with the doctors, and then we will take a call about his fitness after this Test, Kumble said in Kanpur. For this Test match the team management has decided we wont need a replacement.In the absence of a replacement, and looking at the activity in the India nets, Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Umesh Yadav seem to be the frontrunners to make the XI. Mohammed Shami is the other quick in the side. The pitch is quite dry and cracked, although the cracks are not loose or powdery. According to the curator it wont turn as alarmingly as the Nagpur pitch did last year, but there will be reverse-swing on offer.The possibility of reverse-swing at high pace could tilt the selection in favour of Yadav ahead of Shami. If India play five bowlers, that is. There will be turn on this pitch for sure - the amount and the promptness of it can be argued - which means India will play three spinners. Turn in Kanpur is usually slow, which could make India feel they need an extra bowler to take 20 wickets. If they dont, though, Bhuvneshwar Kumar is the frontrunner to be the lone seamer in the XI.In the nets two days before the Test, only Bhuvneshwar and Yadav bowled to the frontline batsmen. It was a long, intense session involving a lot of bouncers in the fast bowlers net. Shami only came out to bowl at the lower order and Shikhar Dhawan, who likely to miss out on selection.Rohit Sharma batted along with the other specialist batsmen, which could be an indication that India hadnt made their minds up regarding the XI. Just like the bowlers had a long bat, M Vijay and Rohit rolled their arms over once they were done batting.The big decision is whether India need and want an extra bowler or not. Under Virat Kohli as a full-time captain, India have started every series so far with five batsmen and an extra bowler: the idea being to set the tone early and remove any negative safety-first attitude at the start of a series. Only an extraordinary pitch should cause Kohli to veer from that path, and the coach Kumble said this wasnt an extraordinary pitch, although only after expressing annoyance at being asked about what he expected from it.It is a typical Kanpur pitch, Kumble said. This is the start of the season, and we dont usually play here in September. But the wicket looks good. I will only say that the talk should be about the cricket on the pitch. We have also discussed the same. Whatever wicket we get we will adapt to that.About Harbhajan Singhs warning that asking for tailored turners could backfire on India, Kumble said: We have not demanded any pitch. We will play on whatever surface is there. We go in with the thought that our spinners are better, and if you see their experience and quality they are very good. We hope that the performance we showed in West Indies continues here. Definitely, its an Indian pitch so there will be turn. But everyone only wants to see the first ball and form their opinions. But Im the coach, and I cannot think only about the first ball. We will think about the whole match and go with the aim of winning the Test and the series. Custom College Jerseys . Louis Blues absence from top spot in the TSN. Stitched College Jerseys . -- The Magic have their first victory of the new year. http://www.cheapcustomjerseyscollege.com/ .B. - Sebastien Auger made 44 saves as the Saint John Sea Dogs edged the visiting Acadie-Bathurst Titan 2-1 on Saturday in Quebec Major Junior Hockey League action. College Football Jerseys . A lawyer for MLB, Matthew Menchel, confirmed Wednesday the league dropped its case against Biogenesis of America, its owner Anthony Bosch and several other individuals. The lawsuit had accused Biogenesis and Bosch of conspiring with players to violate their contracts by providing them with banned performance-enhancing substances. College Basketball Jerseys . Aside from the trilogy main event title fight, there are a number of intriguing matchups in the heavyweight, welterweight and lightweight divisions. TORONTO -- Pittsburgh Penguins goaltender Matt Murray joins the list of participants whose start of the NHL season will be impacted by an injury suffered during the World Cup of Hockey.The Penguins announced Saturday that Murray will miss three to six weeks with a broken hand, which he suffered during Team North Americas loss to the Russians on Sept. 19. In that game, Murray allowed four goals on 19 shots and was pulled in favor of John Gibson in the second period.Murray told reporters after the game that he jammed his thumb in the second period and tried to play through it. As it turns out, the injury was more significant than originally thought, and he didnt play the rest of the tournament as Gibson started the final game against Sweden.This Penguins will raise the Stanley Cup banner when they open their regular season against the Washington Capitals on Oct.dddddddddddd 13, and the game may not feature one of the players most responsible for winning that Cup.The 22-year-old Murray was 15-6 with a 2.08 goals-against average and a .923 save percentage?during the 2016 Stanley Cup playoffs.If Murray isnt ready to start the season, its an opportunity for longtime former starter Marc-Andre Fleury to reclaim his top spot. Fleury was the starter for most of last season for the Penguins, and played well with a .921 save percentage in 58 regular-season games before being sidelined with a concussion.Fleury played in two games during the postseason last spring, starting one, and stopped 28 of the 32 shots he faced during the playoffs. ' ' '