India Drop Sourav Ganguli and Rahul Dravid for ODI Series
January 20, 2008
Indian selectors have dropped experienced batsman Sourav Ganguly for next month’s triangular series in Australia, which also includes Sri Lanka.
Rahul Dravid was also left out as selectors opted for youth in a 16-man squad on Sunday, with left-handed batsman Suresh Raina earning a recall after a year out of the team following some fine domestic performances.
Wicketkeeper-batsman Mahendra Singh Dhoni will lead a 16-man squad in the tri-series, also featuring World Cup runners-up Sri Lanka, and a Twenty20 match against the hosts.
Former captains Ganguly and Dravid, both 35, are among seven batsmen in the world to have completed 10,000 runs in the shorter version of the game.
Left-handed Ganguly, with 11,363 runs in 311 matches, played his last one-dayer against Pakistan at home two months ago.
Middle-order batsman Dravid was axed for a second successive one-day series. He played his last match against Australia at home in October before being dropped against Pakistan. He has so far scored 10,585 runs in 333 matches.
Indian cricket board secretary Niranjan Shah said in a statement the selection committee looked to the future and provided youngsters with a chance after their impressive performances in domestic cricket.
All-rounder Praveen Kumar, 21, who has played one ODI, and leg-spinner Piyush Chawla, 19, were also brought back.
Sree Santh returns after injury, while fellow seamer Ishant Sharma is included after impressing in the Test series.
Ganguly has been in good form recently, but has been overlooked in favour of Raina, who has scored heavily this season for his state team Uttar Pradesh.
Dravid, who like Ganguly is 35, missed the home series against Australia and Pakistan earlier this season because of poor form.
Left-arm spinner Murali Kartik makes way for Chawla despite performing well against the Aussies on home soil.
Indian Squad for ODI Series: Mahendra Dhoni (captain), Yuvraj Singh (vice captain), Sachin Tendulkar, Virendra Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Robin Uthappa, Suresh Raina, Rohit Sharma, Dinesh Kartik, Irfan Pathan, Pravin Kumar, Harbhajan Singh, Piyush Chawla, Rudra Pratap Singh, Shantakumaran Sreesanth and Ishant Sharma.
Standbye: Manoj Tiwary, Yusuf Pathan and Munaf Patel
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