Bhubaneshwar: The national selectors have included Yuvraj Singh and Anil Kumble for the final two ODIs against the West Indies here.

Lefthander Yuvraj has been cleared to play after recovering from a serious knee injury while Kumble had requested the BCCI not to consider him for the first two matches which India won at Nagpur and Cuttack.

Joginder Sharma and Rudra Pratap Singh have been dropped from the squad and are now virtually out of the reckoning for the World Cup.

"It's unfortunate that R.P. Singh and Joginder had to be dropped. We had to take a decision," said the chairman of selectors, Dilip Vengsarkar.

He added that the 15-member squad for the World Cup would be picked at Rajkot on February 11. It was also made known that Sourav Ganguly, a certainty for the World Cup, would be rested for the Chennai ODI.

"We have to look at Gambhir and Robin Uthappa. We have also decided to bring back Irfan Pathan for the fourth match at Vadodara. Suresh Raina will also get his first match at Chennai."

There is also the possibility of other key players being rested in the four-match series against Sri Lanka.

Vice-captain Sachin Tendulkar may get a chance to lead the Indian team after six years.

Virender Sehwag has not been considered for the remaining matches against the West Indies, but in all probability, he will be chosen for the series against Sri Lanka.

The selectors are determined to give enough chances to Gambhir and Uthappa before they find an opening partner for Ganguly.

Munaf asked to report

Munaf Patel, who had been advised rest by the BCCI medial advisor Dr. Anant Joshi, has been asked to report at Vadodara to train with the Indian team.

The squad:

For Chennai: Rahul Dravid (capt.), Robin Uthappa, Gautam Gambhir, Sachin Tendulkar, Yuvraj Singh, Suresh Raina, Sourav Ganguly, Zaheer Khan, Ajit Agarkar, Harbhajan Singh, Ramesh Powar, S. Sreesanth, Anil Kumble, Dinesh Karthik and Mahendra Singh Dhoni.

For Vadodara: Irfan Pathan added as the 16th player.

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail