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April 20,2007

India's most successful One-Day players Sachin Tendulkar and Sourav Ganguly have been 'rested' for next month's 3-ODI Series in Bangladesh. However both these two big guns were kept in the Test Squad with India also playing two Tests. Both players were informed about the same by the BCCI before the selection meeting took place in Mumbai this evening. There have been some significant changes in both the One-Day and the Test Squad which includes the axing of off spinner Harbhajan Singh in both teams and Virender Sehwag in the Test Side.

The players that were confirmed to be dropped following India's debacle in the ongoing World Cup are Harbhajan Singh, all rounder Irfan Pathan and Ajit Agarkar. The replacements for the five changes made in the One-Day team are Delhi's opening bat Gautam Gambhir, Bengal's stroke making sensation Manoj Tiwary, Punjab's Dinesh Mongia, U.P. leg spinning all rounder Piyush Chawla and left arm pacer R.P. Singh. It is believed that the Selectors wanted to drop Virender Sehwag but the insistence of Rahul Dravid had saved his place. The Selectors also revealed that Dravid was uncomfortable with the presence of certain seniors in the side.

There was wild speculation that fast bowler Zaheer Khan would be omitted because of an attitude problem, but the left armer has kept his place in both teams. Reports have come out that Zaheer had a showdown with Sreesanth during the World Cup. There has been no Vice-Captain named with the Selectors leaving the decision for the team management.

Interestingly, both the Test and One Day team would be having both Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Dinesh Karthik who would be opening the batting in Tests. Only one specialist opening batsman has been selected in the form of Wasim Jaffer. Ramesh Powar could now make his Test Debut finally with his inclusion instead of Harbhajan. Making the Spin Trio with Kumble and Powar is Baroda's diminutive left arm spinner Rajesh Pawar, who had also played for Mumbai in the Ranji Trophy. The 27-year-old Pawar has been playing first class cricket since the last 10 years taking more than 200 wickets which also includes a sensational hat-trick a few seasons ago. Fast bowler Vikram Singh who is better known as VRV Singh keeps his place in the test team.

The players who came close to selection in either squad are fast bowlers Ishant Sharma and Ranadeb Bose, Rohit Sharma, the Mumbai batsman and S Badrinath, middle order bat from TN. All the players selected along with Pankaj Singh of Rajasthan, Yo Mahesh (Tamil Nadu), Ishant Sharma (Delhi), Ranadeb Bose and Hyderabad's left arm spinner Pragyan Ojha will be attending a camp to be held in the first week of May in Kolkata. The three ODIs are on 10th, 12th (both at Mirpur) and 15th (at Chittagong). The two Test Matches will follow later at Chittagong (May 18-22) and Mirpur (May 25-29) respectively. India is expected to play 45 ODIs and a handful number of Tests against Teams like England, Australia and Pakistan to name a few.

India ODI Squad : Rahul Dravid (Captain), Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Robin Uthappa, Yuvraj Singh, Dinesh Mongia, Manoj Tiwary, Mahendra Singh Dhoni (Wicket Keeper), Dinesh Karthik (Wicket Keeper), Piyush Chawla, Ramesh Powar, Zaheer Khan, Sreesanth, Munaf Patel, Rudra Pratap Singh

India Test Squad : Wasim Jaffer, Dinesh Karthik (Wicket Keeper), Rahul Dravid (Captain), Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly, Yuvraj Singh, VVS Laxman, Mahendra Singh Dhoni (Wicket Keeper), Anil Kumble, Ramesh Powar, Rajesh Pawar, Zaheer Khan, Sreesanth, Munaf Patel, Vikram Singh

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