Dhoni, Sachin, Yuvraj OUT & Harbhajan Singh IN - Srilanka Test The national selectors on Tuesday announced the squad for the three-match Test series in Sri Lanka, to be held later this month.Struggling players Yuvraj Singh and Irfan Pathan have been left out with the selectors including uncapped players Rohit Sharma and Pragyan Ojha in the squad. Veterans Sachin Tendulkar, Harbhajan Singh and Zaheer Khan are back in the 16-member team, along with Munaf Patel. Opener Wasim Jaffer and injured medium pacer S Sreesanth have been omitted.
Fatigued Dhoni pulls out of SL Test series & No surprises in side; shock only for Yuvraj Singh. Is this End of the road for Ganguly, Dravid?
India's ODI captain MS Dhoni has pulled out of the Sri Lanka Test series which is set to begin later this month and also Dhoni recommended for Khel Ratna The BCCI selection committee will be meeting in Mumbai on Tuesday to pick the team for the Test series.Dhoni had recently complained of fatigue, citing excessive cricket as reason. India is set to play three Test and five one-day internationals in Sri Lanka, with the first Test starting June 23. Dhoni's Indian team lost to Sri Lanka in the Asia Cup finals on Sunday. And the BCCI has told NDTV that the Board has no problems with Dhoni expressing his opinion and wanting a breakDhoni complained about the schedule of the recently-concluded Asia Cup tournament, saying the back to back matches were taking a toll on the players. A senior official of the Board told NDTV " We support Dhoni's decision not to play tests.
Dhoni's decision shows maturity. Senior players need a break, nothing is wrong with that. Dhoni not making a point about too much cricket. He was only critical of the scheduling of Asia Cup matches."In response to Dhoni's statements, the Board vice president Rajiv Shukla had said that players could opt out after informing the BCCI so that they could be replaced.Dhoni was quoted as saying at a recent function that he appreciates the BCCI's decision to provide players rest when they needed it.Dhoni has played 95 matches in the last 18 months and has been one of India's most prolific scorers.
While Tendulkar had been recuperating from a groin injury that forced him out to sit out of the third and final Test against South Africa in April, Harbhajan was serving a five-match ODI ban for slapping teammate S Sreesanth during the Indian Premier League. Zaheer too has not played for India this year after suffering an injury during the Melbourne Test last year. With Dhoni opting out of the series citing fatigue, the selectors included two wicket keepers in Dinesh Kaarthick and Parthiv Patel, who forced his way back riding on his splendid performance in domestic cricket.Gautam Gambhir's impressive performance in ODIs and the IPL has won him the opening slot ahead of Wasim Jaffer.
Suresh Raina will join the India 'A' team for the Emerging Players tournament in Australia in Parthiv Patel's place. He will be the vice-captain of the side, and S Badrinath will be the skipper.
The team will be led by leg-spinner Anil Kumble while Virender Sehwag will be his deputy in Dhoni's absence.India's first Test against Sri Lanka begins on July 23 in Colombo.
India squad: Anil Kumble (capt), Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Sourav Ganguly, Rahul Dravid, VVS Laxman, Sachin Tendulkar, Rohit Sharma, Dinesh Karthik, Parthiv Patel, Harbhajan Singh, Ishant Sharma, Zaheer Khan, RP Singh, Munaf Patel, Pragyan Ojha.The national selection committee has also short listed thirty probables for the ICC Champions Trophy, to be played in Pakistan in September 2008.30 probables for Champions Trophy: Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Yuvraj Singh, Sachin Tendulkar, Zaheer Khan, Rohit Sharma, Harbhajan Singh, Robin Uthappa, Suresh Raina, Piyush Chawla, R.P. Singh, Irfan Pathan, Ishaant Sharma, Praveen Kumar, Manpreet Singh Grewal (Gony), Pragyan Ojha, Parthiv Patel, Dinesh Kartik, S. Badrinath, Mohammed Kaif, Manoj Tiwary, Abhishek Nayar, Pankaj Singh, Murali Kartik, Virat Kohli, Ravindra Jadeja, Ajinkya Rahane, Yusuf Pathan, S Sreesanth.
Fri 18 Jul: Sri Lanka vs India Three-day warm-up match at Colombo.
