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June 12, 2007

Virender Sehwag and Harbhajan Singh are two prominent names that are missing when the Selection Committee led by the Chairman Dilip Vengsarkar had come up with two squads for the upcoming tours of Ireland and England. The squad for Ireland is for the three ODIs Series against South Africa along with an only ODI against Ireland and the Glasgow ODI against Pakistan. The team selected for England is the test squad. Pacer Munaf Patel, one of the best bowlers for English conditions has been ruled out because of his back injury. The five ODIs that India would be playing before the England tour are between June 23 and July 3.

The two big guns Sachin Tendulkar and Sourav Ganguly make a comeback into the One Day team after they were 'rested' for the One Day Series against Bangladesh. Mumbai's middle order batsman Rohit Sharma has been given an opportunity to groom at the highest level by the selectors as they have picked him for the Ireland ODIs. Dinesh Mongia who was a part of the Bangladesh One Day Series has been dropped while Manoj Tiwary wasn't considered because of a shoulder operation. Experienced pacer Ajit Agarkar has been recalled. Wicket Keeper batsman Mahendra Singh Dhoni has been elevated as the Vice-Captain of the side.

Sachin Tendulkar will be the deputy to Rahul Dravid for the England tour. The Selectors have picked three opening batsman for the tour which includes Wasim Jaffer, Dinesh Karthik and Gautam Gambhir. Dinesh Karthik is also expected to do some wicket keeping duties especially during the warm up games. While the middle order picks itself, there is a new face in the bowling line up with Bengal's most reliable performer Ranadeb Bose finally getting the nod. The Selectors have dropped VRV Singh to accommodate Ranadeb. Young Delhi pacer Ishant Sharma who had made his debut at Mirpur has been retained.

Both Virender Sehwag and Harbhajan Singh tried to impress the selectors by playing in the Afro-Asia Cup. Although Sehwag did chip in with a rapid fire half century, he never scored the big one to force the issue. But his omission from the Test Squad can be debatable as he had good success in the last England tour. India have dropped one of their seriously good match winner who has a batting average of nearly 50.00 having played 52 Tests. Sehwag's efforts at the test level have been very special as he is a middle order batsman who has been transformed into an opener. In all the conditions, he has got the runs and against very good bowling attacks as well. Sehwag had a century and a fifty in the six innings he had played in England averaging nearly 40.00.

Chandu Borde is the 'Cricket Manager'

Former Indian Test Cricketer Chandu Borde has been named as the 'Cricket Manager' for both the tours. The appointment of the 72-year-old Borde seems to be a stop gap arrangement from the Board following the situation that has been created because of Graham Ford rejecting the offer to be the Coach. Borde had played 55 Tests for India during the 50s and 60s with good performances. He was also the Indian Team Manager during the 80s and most importantly was a Chief National Selector that too most recently.

India ODI Squad for Ireland tour: Rahul Dravid (Captain), Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly, Gautam Gambhir, Robin Uthappa, Yuvraj Singh, Rohit Sharma, Mahendra Singh Dhoni (Wicket Keeper, Vice-Captain), Dinesh Karthik (Wicket Keeper), Piyush Chawla, Ajit Agarkar, Ramesh Powar, Zaheer Khan, Sreesanth, Rudra Pratap Singh

India Test Squad for England: Wasim Jaffer, Dinesh Karthik (Wicket Keeper), Gautam Gambhir, Rahul Dravid (Captain), Sachin Tendulkar (Vice-Captain), Sourav Ganguly, Yuvraj Singh, VVS Laxman, Mahendra Singh Dhoni (Wicket Keeper), Anil Kumble, Ramesh Powar, Zaheer Khan, Sreesanth, Ishant Sharma, Rudra Pratap Singh, Ranadeb Bose

 

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