Zaheer in, Ganguly out
Mumbai, January 29:
Indian selectors recalled paceman Zaheer Khan to the one-day team for an upcoming five-match series in Pakistan while continuing to ignore Sourav Ganguly.
Former skipper Ganguly was not picked again after failing to make it for home series against Sri Lanka and South Africa.
“Our one-day team has being doing well and we have decided not to disturb the combination,” said chief selector Kiran More, who announced a lone change with all-rounder Jai Prakash Yadav making way for Zaheer.
Zaheer, 27, who did not figure in recent one-dayers while being selected for Tests, forms the seam attack in the 15-member team along with Irfan Pathan, Ajit Agarkar, Rudra Pratap Singh and Sri Sreesanth. Zaheer last turned out for India in August last year in a tri-series in Sri Lanka also featuring the West Indies.
He was not in the squads that thrashed Sri Lanka 6-1 and drew a five-match series with South Africa 2-2. Apart from Ganguly, Venkatsai Laxman, Anil Kumble, Wasim Jaffer and Parthiv Patel will be the others returning home after the Test series. The one-dayers will be played in Peshawar (February 6), Rawalpindi (Feb 11), Lahore (Feb 13), Multan (Feb 16) and Karachi (Feb 19).
SQUAD: Rahul Dravid (capt), Virender Sehwag, Sachin Tendulkar, Gautam Gambhir, Yuvraj Singh, Mohammad Kaif, Suresh Raina, Mahendra Dhoni, Irfan Pathan, Ajit Agarkar, Zaheer Khan, Rudra Pratap Singh, Sri Sreesanth, Murali Kartik, Harbhajan Singh.