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| April 21, 2007 | Saturday | Rabi-us-Sani 03, 1428 |
Tendulkar, Ganguly rested for Bangladesh ODIs
MUMBAI, April 20: India selectors pitched for youth for next month's tour of Bangladesh, resting batsmen Sachin Tendulkar and Saurav Ganguly from the one-day team and ousting three others following the side's World Cup failure.
India, who suffered a shock exit from the first stage of the World Cup, play a three-match one-day series followed by two Tests from May 10.
Tendulkar and Ganguly retained their Test places. Out-of-form batsman Virender Sehwag made the one-day team but was dropped from the Test side.
Off-spinner Harbhajan Singh, left-arm seamer Irfan Pathan and pacer Ajit Agarkar, all part of the World Cup disappointment, were dropped from both teams.
“For the Bangladesh tour we thought we could get youngsters,” chief selector Dilip Vengsarkar told journalists.
“It is only for this tour. We thought we could try players who have done well in first-class (domestic) cricket. This was the only opportunity we have to see and assess their talent.
That's the reason we have picked them.
“They (the team) are playing 45 ODIs, you see, this year. It will be tough to play all the matches. (Tendulkar and Ganguly) understand that. Everybody will take rest.”
Bengal batsman Manoj Tiwary, 21, is the lone new face in the one-day team while 18-year-old leg spinner Piyush Chawla, who has played one test, has been drafted into the one-day team following Anil Kumble's retirement. A clutch of younger players have been recalled.
The only debutant in the Test team was Baroda left-arm spinner Rajesh Pawar.
Vengsarkar said wicket-keeper/batsman Dinesh Karthik would be considered as opener in Tests along with Wasim Jaffer. “We picked three spinners and four fast bowlers. We have to get the combination right.”
The team leave for Bangladesh on May 7 after a five-day preparatory camp in Kolkata.
Former captain Ravi Shastri was named cricket manager earlier this month after Australian Greg Chappell resigned as coach.
Squad for One-day Internationals: Rahul Dravid (captain), Gautam Gambhir, Robin Uthappa, Virender Sehwag, Yuvraj Singh, Mahendra Dhoni, Dinesh Karthik, Manoj Tiwary, Shanthakumaran Sreesanth, Munaf Patel, Zaheer Khan, Rudra Pratap Singh, Piyush Chawla, Ramesh Powar and Dinesh Mongia.
Squad for Tests: Rahul Dravid (captain), Wasim Jaffer, Sachin Tendulkar, Vangipurappu Laxman, Mahendra Dhoni, Sourav Ganguly, Yuvraj Singh, Dinesh Karthik, Shanthakumaran Sreesanth, Zaheer Khan, Vikram Rajvir Singh, Munaf Patel, Anil Kumble, Ramesh Powar and Rajesh Pawar.
Itinerary:
May 10: First ODI (Mirpur).
May 12: Second ODI (Mirpur).
May 15: Third ODI (Chittagong).
May 18-22: First Test (Chittagong).
May 25-29: Second Test (Mirpur).—Reuters
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