Associated Press

Bangalore, July 18:

Selectors on Monday named Rahul Dravid as skipper of India’s cricket team for the limited-over tri-series in Sri Lanka that begins later this month, an Indian cricket official said. The decision came as International Cricket Council’s dispute resolution committee mulled an appeal against regular captain Sourav Ganguly’s six-match ban by the Board of Control for Cricket in India. Secretary of the board, SK Nair, said the selectors named Dravid as captain of the 15-member squad for the July 30-August 9 series that features host Sri Lanka and the West Indies. Ganguly could still be included in the squad, Nair said. “The selectors considered Ganguly and decided to include him as the 16th member, if the ICC lifts the ban on him,” Nair told reporters after the selection panel’s meeting. Ganguly was suspended for six matches in April in the home series against Pakistan due to India’s persistent overrate. His personal appeal was rejected by the ICC.

Ganguly missed the last two one-dayers against Pakistan. India’s appeal on his behalf will be heard by South African judge, Albie Sachs, later this week. The absence of Ganguly and star batsman Sachin Tendulkar, who is recuperating from elbow surgery, led to the induction of rookie batsmen Venugopala Rao and Suresh Raina in the squad. Medium-pace bowling all-rounder JP Yadav has been picked again after a short stint in the Indian squad a couple of years ago. SQUAD: Rahul Dravid (c), Virender Sehwag, VVS Laxman, Yuvraj Singh, Mohammad Kaif, Suresh Raina, Venugopala Rao, Mahendra Dhoni, Harbhajan Singh, Anil

Kumble, Zaheer Khan, Irfan Pathan, Laxmipathy Balaji, Ashish Nehra and JP Yadav.