Shib Shankar Paul

Calcutta: Punjab medium-pacer Gagandeep Singh is the only new face in the 15-member Team India squad announced on Wednesday for the two-Test series against Bangladesh starting in Dhaka on December 9.

Gagandeep replaces Ashish Nehra. ?Team India physio Andrew Leipus was consulted and he declared Nehra unfit,? BCCI secretary S.K. Nair said.

According to Nair, Nehra suffered an abdominal strain during practice.

Bengal pacer Shib Shankar Paul also got a look in after he was dropped from the squad for the two Tests against South Africa.

Paul was earlier included the squad for the last Test against Australia in Mumbai, but couldn?t find a berth in the final XI.

Paul feels that given a chance (in the starting XI) he will be able to prove himself. ?This will be my first overseas trip for Team India and I will try my best to cement my place in the team,? Paul told The Telegraph on Wednesday.

Paul appeared unruffled when he was reminded of his slump in the last couple of Ranji Trophy matches. ?I know I didn?t get many wickets, but I am bowling perfectly well and will continue to do the same,? he stated.

The BCCI secretary announced that the team for the three-match one-day series against Bangladesh would be announced on Thursday.

According to a source, the one-day team couldn?t be selected due to lack of time, since it requires a lot of discussion. ?The Test squad was almost certain that?s why we announced it today,? the source said, adding, ?we decided to postpone the selection of the one-day squad by a day on the proposal of the team thinktank?.

The meeting was attended by coach John Wright and captain Sourav Ganguly along with selectors Kiran More (chairman), Pranab Roy, Gopal Sharma, Yashpal Sharma and V.B. Chandrasekar.

Players? contracts

Meanwhile, the Indian cricketers signed the contract papers for graded payments on Wednesday. Twelve top cricketers, out of a total of 17, who were offered the contracts earlier, signed on the dotted lines, the BCCI secretary said.

Those who signed are Sourav Ganguly, Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, Virender Sehwag, V.V.S. Laxman, Anil Kumble, Harbhajan Singh (all in grade-A), Mohammed Kaif, Zaheer Khan, Irfan Pathan, Ashish Nehra (all in grade-B) and Murali Kartik (grade-C).