The Hindu : Sport / Cricket : Dinesh Mongia to lead Rest of India

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Sep 14, 2004

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Sport - Cricket

Dinesh Mongia to lead Rest of India

By Our Special Correspondent

CHENNAI, SEPT. 13. Punjab's Dinesh Mongia will lead the Rest of India side against Ranji champion Mumbai in the Irani Trophy match to be played at Mohali from September 22 to 26. Sridharan Sriram of Tamil Nadu has been named the vice-captain.

Announcing the 14-member squad after a two-hour meeting of the National selection panel headed by Syed Kirmani, here, on Monday, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) secretary, S.K. Nair, said the match would be an indicator of form and fitness of the aspirants ahead of Australia's tour of India.

He said left-arm paceman Zaheer Khan and opener Akash Chopra, returning from injuries, would have to prove their match fitness to strengthen their claims for an India place. "They have submitted medical certificates regarding their fitness and how they fare in the match would be watched," he said.

Wicket-keeper batsman Parthiv Patel was chosen ahead of Mahendra Singh Dhoni, who had excelled for India `A' during its tour of Zimbabwe and Kenya, since the former was thought to be a better bet for Test cricket, he said. Dhoni would receive his chances in the coming days, Mr. Nair said.

He said middle-order batsman Hemang Badani was not selected since he had not yet submitted documentary evidence of his fitness following a knee injury. Mr. Nair said Sadagopan Ramesh's name was not considered because other openers like Akash Chopra and Gautam Gambhir had been performing well.

The BCCI secretary said performances on India `A' tours had been given due importance. Batsman Dhiraj Jadhav and paceman Shib Sankar Paul had been picked on the basis of their strong displays for India `A', Mr. Nair said.

He said the Board President's XI team to meet Australia in a three-day match in Hyderabad from September 30, would be chosen during the Irani Trophy match. Mr. Nair said some of the players who could not make it to the Rest of India side might receive a look-in during the other games.

The Rest of India squad has seven batsmen in captain Mongia, vice-captain S. Sriram, Akash Chopra, Gautam Gambhir, Dhiraj Jhadav, A.T. Rayadu, and Y. Venugopala Rao. Parthiv Patel is the lone wicket-keeper in the side.

The pacemen in the team are Zaheer Khan, Shib Sankar Paul and Siddharth Trivedi, while Joginder Sharma is the pace bowling all-rounder. Left-armer Murali Kartik and leggie Y.A. Gowalkar are the spinners.

The Rest of India squad: Dinesh Mongia (captain), S. Sriram (vice-captain), Akash Chopra, Gautam Gambhir, Dhiraj Jhadav, A.T. Rayadu, Parthiv Patel, Murali Kartik, Shib Sankar Paul, Zaheer Khan, Y.A. Gowalkar, Y. Venugopala Rao, Joginder Sharma, Sidharth Trivedi.

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