India replace injured Praveen with Sreesanth for World Cup

Shanthakumaran Sreesanth, the India fast bowler, has replaced the injured Praveen Kumar for the World Cup.

The Board of Control for Cricket in India announced that Praveen has been ruled out because of an elbow injury and the International Cricket Council has allowed him to be replaced by Sreesanth.

Kumar failed a fitness test on Monday after having returned home before the recent one-day series in South Africa due to the injury.

The other pace bowlers in India's 15-man squad are Zaheer Khan, Ashish Nehra and Munaf Patel.

Sreesanth, who has taken 75 wickets in 51 matches since his debut more than five years ago, said he was hopeful of doing well at the tournament.

"Our fast bowling department is confident of the challenge," the 28-year-old paceman told the CNN-IBN news channel. "Our team is a perfect mix of talent and experience this time."

India is co-hosting the 14-nation tournament from February 19 to April 2 along with Sri Lanka and Bangladesh and is the favourite to win the World Cup for a second time following its success in 1983.

India take on Bangladesh at Dhaka in the tournament opener.