Sourav Ganguly

Ganguly, Tendulkar are BCCI's players for Oct to Jan


The Board of Control for Cricket in India has named senior players Sourav Ganguly and Sachin Tendulkar as its 'Players for the Period October'07 to January'08', for their exploits in the Test series against Pakistan at home and Australia Down Under respectively.

Ganguly was named as one of the BCCI's two best players, in its newly-launched quarterly newsletter, for being India's best batsman in the three-Test series against Pakistan, during which he scored 534 runs, including a century and a double, at an average of 89.

The stylish Bengal left-hander, who made his 100th Test appearance in the controversy-riddled January 2-6 Sydney Test, finished last year with an aggregate of 1,106 runs from ten Tests, the eight-page bulletin noted.

Tendulkar was picked for accumulating 493 runs in the four-Test rubber against Australia, the highest run-getter for both teams. The tally included his 38th and 39th Test hundreds.

The newsletter also has a message from BCCI president Sharad Pawar [Images] which says it is important to keep Indian cricket's constituents posted on the happenings in Indian cricket and the inaugural edition "is an attempt to do just that".

There is also a short interview with president-elect Shashank Manohar, in which he says 2007 was a year of extremes with the shock exit of the team from the World Cup in March followed by the triumph of Mahendra Dhoni [Images] and his team in the Twenty20 World Cup in South Africa.

The newsletter, which has BCCI's Chief Administrative Office Ratnakar Shetty as Editor-in-Chief, also has a brief mention on the umpiring controversies that marred the Sydney Test.

Ganguly dropped

Suresh Raina makes a comeback after being out of the side for a year © Getty Images



Sourav Ganguly is the notable omission from India's 16-member squad for the tri-nation CB Series, which starts on February 3, and the solitary Twenty20 international at the MCG on February 1. There was no recall either for Rahul Dravid and VVS Laxman for the tournament, which also features Australia and Sri Lanka, with the selectors putting the emphasis on youth.

Suresh Raina, who last played an ODI in January 2007, and Praveen Kumar, the allrounder who played an ODI last season, benefited from good performances in Uttar Pradesh's Ranji Trophy season, one they ended as runners-up.

A third UP player, Piyush Chawla, who was impressive on last year's tour of England, gets the nod for the second spinner's spot ahead of Murali Kartik. Chawla was preferred because the selectors were of the opinion that a wrist-spinner would be handy on Australian pitches.

The most contentious decision, though, involved Ganguly. It is believed that the captain, Mahendra Singh Dhoni, wanted to stick with a majority of the squad that won the World Twenty20 last September.

Explaining why Ganguly was overlooked, BCCI secretary Niranjan Shah said, "The emphasis was on fielding abilities and they [the team management] wanted a young fielding side for the series. That's why you see a lot of youngsters in the side." After a run of three half-centuries in four matches against England last year, Ganguly has managed 231 runs at 25.66 in nine innings.

India's fast-bowling attack will be led by RP Singh, Irfan Pathan and Sreesanth, who missed the Test series against Australia with a shoulder injury. Joining them will be Praveen, who took eight Delhi wickets in the first innings of the Ranji Trophy final last week.

While Sreesanth was recalled after a brief stint at the National Cricket Academy (NCA) in Bangalore, there was no place for Munaf Patel. Though both Munaf and Sreesanth were cleared by the NCA, it is learnt that the selectors wanted Munaf to get more match practice before considering him. India's attack will also miss their spearhead Zaheer Khan, who is yet to recover from his heel injury.

Gautam Gambhir, who has cracked three centuries in the Ranji Trophy [two of them match-winning efforts, in the semi-final and final], and Dinesh Karthik have been included.

Manoj Tiwary, Yusuf Pathan and Munaf have been placed on standby and will join the squad in case of any injuries.

Squad: Mahendra Singh Dhoni (capt & wk), Sachin Tendulkar, Yuvraj Singh, Virender Sehwag, Dinesh Karthik, Robin Uthappa, Gautam Gambhir, Suresh Raina, Rohit Sharma, Irfan Pathan, Praveen Kumar, RP Singh, Ishant Sharma, Sreesanth, Harbhajan Singh, Piyush Chawla