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| October 15, 2005 | Saturday | Ramzan 10, 1426 |
Tendulkar returns, Zaheer axed
MOHALI (India), Oct 14: India’s premier batsman Sachin Tendulkar is primed to make his comeback after a six-month layoff due to elbow surgery after being named on Friday in the squad for the one-day series against Sri Lanka.
India are scheduled to play seven matches in the home series starting Oct. 25.
The 32-year-old, who underwent surgery on his left elbow in May, was included in the 15-strong squad for the first two games of the series despite only making 12, 4 and 22 in this week’s return in a domestic one-day series.
Tendulkar’s last international appearance was in the final one-dayer of a six-match home series against Pakistan in April, which the visitors won 4-2.
The surgery forced the Mumbai cricketer to skip a tri-series in Sri Lanka in July-August as well as a subsequent tour of Zimbabwe.
The squad, to be led by new captain Rahul Dravid, will be without former skipper Saurav Ganguly, who was axed from the post on Thursday. Ganguly is also nursing a tennis elbow injury.
One-day specialist Mohammad Kaif (hamstring injury) and left-arm paceman Ashish Nehra (buttock strain) were also excluded.
The selection committee has pitched for youth with an eye on building the side for the 2007 World Cup, chief selector Kiran More said.
It recalled 24-year-old Test opener Gautam Gambhir after a two-year gap and also included uncapped paceman S. Sreesanth.
India has suffered from want of a settled opening combination in one-dayers, ever since Tendulkar’s elbow problem cropped up.
In recent months, the team has tried a number of combinations to partner Virender Sehwag.
“We are trying out youngsters with an eye on the future. Good performances by seniors in domestic competitions will certainly be considered,” More said.
“India has not performed well in the last 35 to 40 one-day internationals, and that’s a cause for concern,” he added.
“Dravid led well on the few occasions he has captained. We intend giving him a fair run,” More said.
The team: Rahul Dravid (captain), Virender Sehwag (vice-captain), Sachin Tendulkar, Yuvraj Singh, Y. Venugopal Rao, Suresh Raina, M.S. Dhoni (wicketkeeper), Harbhajan Singh, Murali Kartik, Irfan Pathan, Ajit Agarkar, Jai Prakash Yadav, S. Sreesanth, Rudra Pratap Singh, Gautam Gambhir.—Agencies
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