Kambli and Agarkar, recuperating from leg injuries, were put through a rigourous 85-minute fitness test two days ago at the Brabourne Stadium here by Kokinos and Chadha.

The five selectors -- Ajit Wadekar (chairman), Madan Lal, Shivlal Yadav, Ashok Malhotra, Anil Deshpande -- deliberated for nearly two hours in the presence of Indian coach Anshuman Gaekwad and present skipper Mohammad Azharuddin at the Mumbai Cricket Association office before pruning the list of 30 probables to 19.

``The climate in the first half of the English cricket season will be quite cold, with spinnersrendered ineffective. The opposition in the championship were also taken into account before making the selections,'' said Wadekar.

Comparing the squad the 1983 Indian team, Wadekar opined: ``The (1983 and 1999) teams are almost similar as far as the number of all-rounders is concerned. There are nine all-rounders in the present squad. But then (in 1983) the all-rounders like Jimmy (Mohinder Amarnath), Madan (Lal), Roger Binny were an experienced lot.''

The forthcoming triangular series featuring India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka, to be staged in India from March 19-April 4, would be a testing ground for the youngsters in the World Cup 19, Wadekar said. ``We would love to rest some of the senior players in the triangular,'' he added.

Notable omissions from the list of 30 probables were swing bowler Debashish Mohanty and all-rounder Sunil Joshi.

Heaping praises on Sadagoppan Ramesh's attitude, Wadekar said, ``Ramesh has been included as an opener.''

Commenting on the fitness report of Agarkar and Kambli,Wadekar said, ``both are fit to undertake the demands on international cricket. They will play triangular series but weren't selected for the Asian Test Championship to give them a longer period of rest.''

The captain for the Indian team for the World Cup will be named along with the squad of 15 on March 30 -- a day before the International Cricket Council (ICC) deadline.

Azharuddin has been appointed captain only for the Asian Test Championship final, (provided India qualifies). The captain and the team for the triangular series will be announced either on March 16 or 17.

The final squad for the World Cup will be picked on March 30. ``The team for the Sharjah tournament (April 7-16) and the World Cup squad will almost be the same,'' he said.

The India team is expected to leave for the May 14-June 20 World Cup on April 23 and will have a conditioning camp at the Indian board's expense upto May 4 after which the ECB hospitality commences, Lele said. ``BCCI consultant Bob Simpson is expected to join theteam as soon as it reaches England,'' Lele added.

REPLACEMENT OF A PLAYER

The International Cricket Council (ICC) rule states that if a player gets injured during the World Cup, the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) will appoint a two-member committee which will take the opinion of the manager and the doctor of the affected team. The panel will then certify whether the concerned players are really injured before okaying the replacements.

If a player from the present 19 is injured before the squad of 15 is decided then the BCCI will decide on the changes which will be purely only medical grounds. And the replacements would only be from the list of 30 probables.

Following is the 19-member squad

(The classification is according to the selectors)

Openers

Sachin Tendulkar

Saurav Ganguly

Sadagoppan Ramesh

Middle-order batsmen

Mohammad Azharuddin

Rahul Dravid

Ajay Jadeja

Vinod Kambli

Hrishikesh Kanitkar

AmayKhurasia

Medium-pacers

Javagal Srinath

Venkatesh Prasad

Ajit Agarkar

Laxmi Ratan Shukla

All-rounders

Robin Singh Sr

Virender Sehwag

Wicket-keeper

Nayan Mongia

Spinners

Anil Kumble

Nikhil Chopra

Gyanendra Pandey

THOSE WHO MISSED THE BUS: Venkata Sai Laxman, Devang Gandhi, Gagan Khoda, Jacob Martin, Saba Karim, MSK Prasad, Debashish Mohanty, Dodda Ganesh, Sunil Joshi, Rahul Sanghvi, Harbhajan Singh