Despite indications that they would skip the Challenger Trophy
tournament, Sachin Tendulkar and Saurav Ganguly were on Thursday named
as captains of the India seniors team and the India A team which will
take part in the competition, to be held at Ahmedabad from February 10
to 13.
The three teams were picked in Mumbai by the national selection
committee. In the wake of the disastrous tour by the Indian team `Down
Under' and talk already of the broom being at work, there was
considerable interest in the the composition of the three teams.
Under the circumstances, the selectors have done well in giving
players on the comeback trail like Md Azharuddin, Vinod Kambli and
Ajay Jadeja a chance and recognizing both the feats performed around
the domestic circuit and the showing of the victorious Under-19 World
Cup squad in Sri Lanka.
Azharuddin finds a place in the India A team, led by Ganguly while
Jadeja will captain the Indian B side. Tendulkar will lead the India
seniors which consists of members of the Indian team which toured
Australia and Kambli. The 28-year-old Mumbai left hander has been
among the runs this season and given his class and experience, he
certainly warrants another look by the selection committee.
The India A team is a mixture of youth and experience. The experience
is provided by Ganguly, Azharuddin and Mongia. The rest of the side
comprises young players who have done well around the domestic circuit
in Tamil Nadu left hander S Sarath, Delhi's consistent run getter
Virendra Shewag, Karnataka's in form opening batsman J Arun Kumar,
promising left arm spinner Murali Kartik, Delhi medium pacer Amit
Bhandari, Tamil Nadu all rounder Aashish Kapoor, medium pacer Thiru
Kumaran and Niraj Patel of Gujarat who did a fine job while bolstering
the middle order batting for the victorious under-19 team in Sri
Lanka.
The under-19 team has five representatives in the India B team in
Yuveraj Singh, RS Sodhi, Anup Dave, Md Kaif and wicket keeper Ajay
Ratra. Here also consistency around the domestic circuit has been
rewarded and there are places for Bengal opening batsman Nikhil
Haldipur, UP's opening batsman Jai P Yadav, Devendra Bundela of MP, RR
Parida of Orissa while there is a fair amount of experience in the new
ball attack which is spearheaded by Dodda Ganesh and Debashish
Mohanty.
Those not considered from among the players who went to Australia are
Ajit Agarkar, Devang Gandhi, Hrishikesh Kanitkar, Vijay Bhardwaj and
MSK Prasad. The injured Sadagopan Ramesh was out of the reckoning.
Announcing the teams, Board of Control for Cricket in India secretary
JY Lele said it was mandatory for all the selected players to take
part in the tournament unless they were able to prove they were unfit.
Lele confirmed that Agarkar was not considered for selection. On the
injuries to VVS Laxman and Jacob Martin, Lele said they would need
eight days to recover. It is assumed then that the two will be fit for
the tournament.
The teams:
India seniors: Sachin Tendulkar (Mumbai, captain), VVS
Laxman (Hyderabad), Rahul Dravid (Karnataka) Jacob Martin (Baroda),
Robin Singh (Tamil Nadu), Anil Kumble (Karnataka), Nikhil Chopra
(Delhi), Sunil Joshi (Karnataka), Sameer Dighe (Mumbai), Javagal
Srinath (Karnataka), Venkatesh Prasad (Karnataka) and Vinod Kambli
(Mumbai).
India A: Saurav Ganguly (Bengal, captain), Md Azharuddin (Hyderabad),
Nayan Mongia (Baroda), J Arun Kumar (Karnataka), S Sarath (Tamil
Nadu), Virendra Shewag (Delhi), Murali Karthik (Rlys), Amit Bhandari
(Delhi), Sanjai Bangar (Railways), T Kumaran (Tamil Nadu), Aashish
Kapoor (Tamil Nadu) and Niraj Patel (Gujarat).
India B: Ajay Jadeja (J & K, captain), Nikhil Haldipur (Bengal),
Yuveraj Singh (Punjab), Md Kaif (UP), Anup Dave (Rajasthan), Jai P
Yadav (UP), Devendra Bundela (MP), RS Sodhi (Punjab), Dodda Ganesh
(Karnataka), RR Parida (Orissa), Ajay Ratra (Haryana) and D Mohanty
(Orissa).