Mumbai, April 20:

India’s cricket selectors today dropped five World Cup flops, including Sachin Tendulkar and Sourav Ganguly, for next month’s one-day series in Bangladesh.

Bowlers Harbhajan Singh, Ajit Agarkar and Irfan Pathan were the other casualties in an expected shake-up following India’s first round exit from the World Cup. Tendulkar and Ganguly were, however, selected for the two Test matches that follow the three one-day internationals on the 23-day tour of Bangladesh starting on May 10. Veteran leg-spinner Anil Kumble, who quit one-day cricket after the World Cup, was also picked for the Tests.

Tendulkar, the most successful ODI batsman in history with 14,847 runs and 41 centuries, managed just 210 runs in nine of his last 10 one-day innings. The Mumbai batsman, who turns 34 next Tuesday, had scores of seven, 57 not out and zero during the disappointing World Cup campaign.

Chief selector Dilip Vengsarkar insisted both Tendulkar and Ganguly were “rested”, saying they will be considered for the tour of England in July. “We just want to give them a break, they are definitely not out of contention for the future,” he said after the selection meeting here.

India, the 1983 champions and 2003 finalists, lost to Bangladesh and Sri Lanka to bow out in the preliminary stage of the tournament in the Caribbean.

The selectors, ordered by the cricket board to pick a young team for the Bangladesh tour, named uncapped 21-year-old Bengal batsman Manoj Tewari in the 15-man one-day squad led by Rahul Dravid. Young leg-spinner Piyush Chawla, left-arm seamer Rudra Pratap Singh, off-spinner Ramesh Powar and seasoned batsman Dinesh Mongia were also picked for the one-dayers.

Aggressive opener Virender Sehwag was retained for the one-day matches despite scoring just 270 runs in his last 10 matches, but was sacked from the Test squad. Mumbai’s promising left-arm spinner, Rajesh Pawar, will join Kumble and Powar in the three-pronged spin attack for the Test matches.

Former Test star-turned-commentator Ravi Shastri will be interim coach for the tour as officials search for a replacement for Greg Chappell, who did not extend his two-year tenure after the World Cup. The first two one-dayers will be played in Dhaka on May 10 and 12 followed by the third in Chittagong on May 15. The Test matches will be held in Chittagong (May 18-22) and Dhaka (May 25-29).