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The three big superstars of Indian Cricket - Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly and Rahul Dravid have opted out of the upcoming Twenty20 World Cup in South Africa. The Indian Selectors have therefore not named these players in the list of 30 probables. The list includes plenty of rookies who are just making their mark in the domestic circuit while some of the other players are Indian team regulars and discards. On this same day, the Selectors have also picked the India 'A' side which is going to be led by Mohammad Kaif for the upcoming tours of Kenya and Zimbabwe.

The final Twenty20 Squad of 15 will be picked on either August 6th or 7th according to the BCCI who haven't named the Captain yet. The seniors who have been included are Virender Sehwag, Yuvraj Singh, Mohammad Kaif, Dhoni, Harbhajan, Agarkar and Zaheer. Ramesh Powar has also found a place in the probables despite his built which may not be suitable for the fast paced game. Irfan Pathan who is trying to reinvent himself has also been named and so is his brother - Yusuf Pathan, a hard hitting all rounder who bowls leg breaks. The son of former Indian Captain Krishnamachari Srikkanth - Anirudha Srikkanth, the Tamil Nadu opener has forced his way among the 30 because of his hard hitting reputation.

Coming to the India 'A' squad, wicket keeper Parthiv Patel will be the deputy to Kaif for the 16-man squad. It is not sure if Parthiv would be playing as a wicket keeper batsman or as a pure batsman as he wasn't named as the keeper but the other player Mahesh Rawat was named as the wicket keeper. Former Indian stumper Chandrakant Pandit has been named as the Coach. The squad also has Irfan Pathan, Uthappa, Piyush Chawla and Vikram Singh. What's surprising was the name of Arjun Yadav, who seems to have been selected purely on recommendation rather than merit. Being the son of former India offie and the current Hon. Secretary of the Hyderabad Cricket Association - Shivlal Yadav, it doesn't seem to be a difficult task for Arjun Yadav to break into bigger teams even if he doesn't deserve. In the age where the Media and the public is fully aware of the performances of players at each and every level of cricket, it is hardly convincing to accept a player getting selected into the India 'A' side with a batting average of 28 in 50 first class matches! Arjun Yadav was in the news after he got a surprise call from the Indian team management to join the virus-hit squad in Belfast; Arjun was playing Irish leagues then. One of the criteria for selecting the players according to the BCCI was 'Under 25 years of age'. It looks as if there was a berth reserved for Arjun 'Shivlal' Yadav anyway. But otherwise the squad consists of promising youngsters like Rohit Sharma, Cheteshwar Pujara, Vijaykumar Yo Mahesh, Tamil Nadu's new fast bowler and Pragyan Ojha, the Hyderabad left arm spinner who are making news with their domestic performances.

India Twenty20 Probables : Virender Sehwag, Suresh Raina, Mohammad Kaif, Yuvraj Singh, MS Dhoni, Dinesh Karthik, Irfan Pathan, Yusuf Pathan, Sreesanth, Manoj Tiwary, Ajit Agarkar, Karan Goel, Zaheer Khan, RP Singh, Ishant Sharma, Abhishek Jhunjhunwala, Cheteshwar Pujara, Rajesh Pawar, Piyush Chawla, Harbhajan Singh, Joginder Sharma, Rohit Sharma, Gautam Gambhir, Munaf Patel, Niranjan Behara, Praveen Kumar, Anirudha Srikkanth, Ramesh Powar, Robin Uthappa, Niraj Patel

India A : Mohammad Kaif (Captain), Parthiv Patel (Vice-Captain), Robin Uthappa, Cheteshwar Pujara, S Badrinath, Rohit Sharma, Niraj Patel, Rajesh Pawar, Mahesh Rawat (Wicket Keeper), Piyush Chawla, Arjun Yadav, Pragyan Ojha, Irfan Pathan, Vikram Singh, Yo Mahesh and Pankaj Singh.  Coach : Chandrakant Pandit

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