PHOTO: K. BHAGYA PRAKASH

I'M OK: Sachin Tendulkar, who gets ready for the tri-series in Sri Lanka after an injury layoff, having a word with Kiran More and Greg Chappell at the skills camp.

Bangalore: Former India skipper Sourav Ganguly has been included in the 30-member probables list for the ICC Champions Trophy to be held in India from October 7 to November 5.

"We have announced 30 players and he is good enough to be there. He is also a contracted player. He is a good cricketer and I wish him good luck," said National selection committee chairman Kiran More.

Along with Ganguly, the trio of Anil Kumble, V.V.S. Laxman and Zaheer Khan also figured in the list. Zaheer has bagged 63 wickets for Worcestershire this season. "Kumble and Laxman are senior players who have rendered good service to Indian cricket," More said.

Besides the comeback men, S. Badrinath, T.P. Singh and Rohit Sharma — who toured Australia as part of the India `A' team — are the newcomers.

Asked whether Ganguly will make the final 14 for the Champions Trophy, More said, "performance is the key and it is also unfair to just discuss about one player." Pressed for an explanation on the rationale behind Ganguly's selection despite an indifferent county stint with Northamptonshire averaging just 4.80, More said the selection was not just based on county performance.

Criteria

On the criteria behind the selection of 30 players, More said: "We will select the final 14 on September 7. We selected more players because the tournament is two months away and anything can happen in between. We don't want to take a chance. In case we announce, maybe 21 or 22 players, then also we have to select the final 14 from that list. So we thought we would select 30."

Asked to comment on the selected bunch, More said: "It is a good mix of senior and junior cricketers. We have analysed the domestic performance of all the senior and junior cricketers, we have also taken into account last season's performance. Even the India `A' players who have performed well have been taken into account." The selection committee chairman also praised Rohit Sharma as a promising talent.

On L. Balaji and Murali Kartik, who are recovering from injuries, More said: "We have the medical reports stating that Kartik would be fit in time for the Champions Trophy, but we can't select him based just on that. He and Balaji have to play some seven to eight domestic games to gain match fitness, and only then we can consider them. They are also coming back from major injuries and we shouldn't rush them." He added that Nehra too should play domestic games to prove his fitness.

Earlier, the selection committee, along with coach Greg Chappell, captain Rahul Dravid and the BCCI secretary, Niranjan Shah, who is also the convener, met for an hour to finalise the list. The secretary later told the media that the proposed tri-series in Malaysia and Singapore in September had been confirmed.

The probables list: Rahul Dravid (captain), Virender Sehwag (vice-captain), Sachin Tendulkar, Yuvraj Singh, Mohammad Kaif, Suresh Raina, Irfan Pathan, Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Harbhajan Singh, Ramesh Powar, Dinesh Mongia, Ajit Agarkar, S. Sreesanth, Munaf Patel, Rudra Pratap Singh, Sourav Ganguly, Anil Kumble, Zaheer Khan, V.V.S. Laxman, Venugopala Rao, Robin Uthappa, Gautam Gambhir, Parthiv Patel, Dinesh Karthik, Piyush Chawla, S. Badrinath, Rohit Sharma, T.P. Singh, S.S. Paul, V.R.V. Singh.

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