VADODARA (India), Feb 23: Former India captain Saurav Ganguly was on Thursday dropped from a 15-man squad to play England in the first of three Tests against England starting in Nagpur on March 1.

The 33-year-old left-hander made way for young guns Mohammad Kaif and Suresh Raina in the middle-order, a move that could end the international career of the country’s most successful Test captain.

“We have made a move to look towards the future and there is no going back from here,” chairman of selectors Kiran More told reporters.

“The one-day series in Pakistan (which India won 4-1) showed how much difference fresh legs can make to a side.

“Test cricket is certainly a different ball game, but the future belongs to younger players. As far as this selection committee is concerned, we will stick to them.

“This committee does not want to discuss the Ganguly issue again.”

Ganguly’s future had generated heated debate across the cricket-mad nation ever since he was sacked as captain and dumped from the one-day squad in October following a public spat with coach Greg Chappell.

Ganguly was selected for the first two home Tests against Sri Lanka before being axed from the third and was a controversial selection for the subsequent tour of Pakistan.

In Pakistan, Ganguly did not get to bat in the first Test in Lahore, was dropped for the second in Faisalabad and made 34 and 37 in the third in Karachi which Pakistan won by 341 runs to clinch the series 1-0.

He was not picked for the one-day series which followed, in which India recovered remarkably after losing the opening match to win the next four games.

Ganguly, with 5,221 runs from 88 Tests and 12 centuries behind him, was considered by many to be an automatic selection for the first Test after the in-form Yuvraj Singh was ruled out with a hamstring injury.

Rookie fast bowler Vikram Rajvir Singh, 21, and leg-spinner Piyush Chawla, 19, are the new faces in the team that shows five changes from the side that lost the Test series in Pakistan.

Besides Ganguly, the players axed after Pakistan are seamers Ajit Agarkar and Zaheer Khan, opening batsman Gautam Gambhir and reserve wicket-keeper Parthiv Patel.

They are replaced by three players who took part in the Pakistan one-dayers — Kaif, Raina and Sri Sreesanth — besides Vikram Rajvir Singh and leggie Chawla, who played in the recent ICC Under-19 World Cup in Sri Lanka.

Kaif has played eight Tests, but Raina, Sreesanth, Singh and Chawla have no Test experience at all.

The team for the second Test in Mohali from March 8-12 and the third in Mumbai from March 18-22 will be named during the Nagpur Test, More said.

Squad: Rahul Dravid (captain), Virender Sehwag (vice-captain), Wasim Jaffar, Sachin Tendulkar, Vangipurappu Laxman, Mohammad Kaif, Suresh Raina, Mahendra Dhoni (wicket-keeper), Anil Kumble, Harbhajan Singh, Piyush Chawla, Irfan Pathan, Sri Sreesanth, Rudra Pratap Singh, Vikram Rajvir Singh.—AFP