BCCI selectors today announced a 15-member squad for the first two matches upcoming ODI series against Australia. Virender Sehwag and Yuvraj Singh have been included in the team while Rahul Dravid has been left out.

Yuvraj will have to clear a fitness test on October 25 to get the final affiliation.

Uttar Pradesh tall Fast bowler Sudeep Tyagi is the new face in the team, while Ravindra Jadeja and Munaf Patel have been recalled.

Not just Rahul Dravid but also Yusuf Pathan, Dinesh Karthik, Abhishek Nayar and RP Singh have been dropped from the team. The selectors yet again ignored Pragyan Ojha and Irfan Pathan, while they again reposed faith on Ishant Sharma and Amit Mishra.

BCCI also sacked the team’s bowling coach Venkatesh Prasad and fielding coach Robin Singh with out giving any proper reason.

Related posts

• Indian Team’s camp in Bangalore (0)
• ICC Champions Trophy 2009: Yuvraj out with injury (0)
• Knight Riders Vs Kings XI Punjab: Weather makes them worry (0)
• Delhi Daredevils Vs Kings XI Punjab: Must win for Punjab (0)
• The curse of the twitter : End of Lalit Modi (0)

After a long break, the Indian Cricket team has headed for a four day conditioning camp at the Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bangalore. Coach Gary Kirsten and trainer Ramji Srinivasan will over take the conditioning camp.

Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag, Rahul Dravid and Harbhajan Singh were tuning themselves for the upcoming tri-series which will be played between India, Sri Lanka and New Zealand from Sept 8 to 14, 2009.

Related posts

• Gambir misses tri-series (0)
• India Vs New Zealand : Napier Test ends in Draw (0)
• Compaq Cup: Match 2: India beat New Zealand by 6 wickets (0)
• Dravid on way to create World record (0)
• Kolkata Knight Riders Vs Mumbai Indians: Mumbai opens with a struggling start (0)

Former Indian Cricket Captain Rahul Dravid makes a return to India’s ODI team for the tri-series in Sri Lanka and for the Champions Trophy next month. Rahul Dravid replaced Rohit Sharma, who managed 15 runs in three ODI innings in the West Indies and 43 runs in three innings against major opposition in the World Twenty20.

Also the selectors did not want to take risk including Virender Sehwag, who is yet to recover fully from his shoulder injury. He was not expected to make it to the Sri Lanka tri-series and now has been left out for the Champions Trophy as well.

Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid who have made a come back to the ODI squad

Master blaster Sachin Tendulkar, who opted out of the West Indies series, makes a comeback. Suresh Raina, who was out because of a hairline fracture of the thumb, also returns. Amit Mishra makes it into the ODI squad, replacing Pragyan Ojha as the back-up spinner to Harbhajan Singh. Dinesh Karthik and Abhishek Nayar have retained their places.

India’s ODI squad: Sachin Tendulkar, Gautam Gambhir, Rahul Dravid, Suresh Raina, Yuvraj Singh, MS Dhoni (capt/wk), Yusuf Pathan, Harbhajan Singh, Praveen Kumar, Ishant Sharma, Ashish Nehra, RP Singh, Amit Mishra, Dinesh Karthik, and Abhishek Nayar

Related posts

• Royal Challengers Vs Kings XI Punjab: RC looking to maintain new-form (0)
• Tit-Bits: India Vs New Zealand, Day 4, Final Test, Wellington (0)
• Chennai Super Kings Vs Knight Riders: Match called off due to Rain (0)
• Royal Challengers Vs Kings XI Punjab: Yuvraj’s loss is Bangalore’s gain (0)
• Dhoni is number one batsman (0)

Indian cricketers have failed to find a place in the World Twenty20 squad released by ICC in London on Monday. The squad consists of four Pakistan, three Sri Lanka, three South Africa and two West Indies players.

Member of Team India, who failed miserably in the T20 world championship, could not find a place in the ICC’s World T20 XI.

Younus Khan, who bids adieu to the shortest version of the game, has been made the skipper of the team alongwith his Pakistan team-mates all-rounder Shahid Afridi, wicket-keeper batsman Kamran Akmal and paceman Umar Gul.

Sri Lanka’s Tillakratne Dilshan, player of the tournament, named as an opener alongwith the West Indies Chris Gayle while South Africa Jacques Kallis and AB de Villiers included for the middle-order.

West Indies all-rounder Dwayne Bravo, teenage South Africa paceman Wayne Parnell and Sri Lanka spinner Ajantha Mendis complete the line-up, with Sri Lanka’s Lasith Malinga as the 12th man.

ICC’s World Twenty20 squad:

Jacques Kallis (SA), AB de Villiers (SA), Shahid Afridi (Pak), Kamran Akmal (Pak), Chris Gayle (WI), Tilakratne Dilshan (SL), Mohammed Younus Khan (Pak, Skipper), Dwayne Bravo (WI), Wayne Parnell (SA), Umar Gul (Pak), Ajantha Mendis (SL), Lasith Malinga (SL)

Related posts

• Delhi Daredevils Vs Mumbai Indians: Delhi fails to prove (0)
• Cape Town awaits IPL Celebrities (0)
• ICC Champions Trophy 2009: Will India perform better? (0)
• Match 2: West Indies Vs India: India lost by 8 wickets (0)
• IPL is important for me says Flintoff (0)

Two days after their World Twenty20 campaign ended, the Indian team has landed in Jamaica for their next assignment, a four-ODI series against West Indies.

India have been in great form in one-dayers over the past ten months, losing only three dead matches from 18 games. West Indies performed strongly in the World Twenty20 after a forgettable show against England in the Tests and one-dayers.

India are missing four first-team players on the tour – Sachin Tendulkar, Zaheer Khan, Virender Sehwag and Suresh Raina – but coach Gary Kirsten said this was a chance for the youngsters to shine. “You’re always going to miss them because they are great players, but it’s a great opportunity for a tour of this nature for young players to show what they’re made of.”

The first of four one-dayers is on June 26 in Kingston.

Related posts

• Squad announced for ODI series against Australia (0)
• 2nd ODI: India vs Australia: India sets tough target of 355 (0)
• Royal Challengers Vs Chennai Super Kings: Kevin Pietersen Vs Dhoni (0)
• Match 6: England Vs Pakistan: Do or Die for England (0)
• Match 15: Pakistan Vs Sri Lanka (0)

After Sachin Tendulkar and Zaheer Khan, Suresh Raina was not considered for the West Indies tour because of a thumb injury and Irfan Pathan was left out of the squad announced by BCCI Secretary N Srinivasan.

Ashish Nehra made a comeback after four years as national selectors on Wednesday announced a 16-member squad for the ODI series beginning June 26.

Apart from Delhi pacer Nehra, Tamil Nadu batsmen Murali Vijay and S Badrinath were also included in the squad for the four-match series for which the Indian team will directly fly from London tomorrow.

Mumbai all rounder Abhishek Nayar was the lone new face in the squad which will be captain by Mahendra Singh Dhoni and will have Yuvraj Singh as his deputy.

Virender Sehwag, who pulled out of the Twenty20 World Cup because of a shoulder injury, was not considered for selection.

Srinivasan said that Raina was not considered for selection as he had sustained a hairline fracture on his thumb. He has been advised two weeks’ rest.

Squad: Mahendra Singh Dhoni (Capt), Yuvraj Singh (vice-captain), Gautam Gambhir, Rohit Sharma, Harbhajan Singh, Pragyan Ojha, Yusuf Pathan, Murali Vijay, S Badrinath, RP Singh, Praveen Kumar, Ishant Sharma, Abhishek Nayar, Ashish Nehra, Ravindra Jadeja, Dinesh Kartik.

Related posts

• Compaq Cup Finals: India won by 46 runs (0)
• Mumbai Indians Wait for Semi Spot as Punjab Wins (0)
• Mumbai Indians Vs Rajasthan Royals: Rain washes out Mumbai-Rajasthan match (0)
• Gambir misses tri-series (0)
• Dhoni is number one batsman (0)

The Mahendra Singh Dhoni-led Indian team left for London on Friday morning to defend their World Twenty20 title.

The team would have a week in England to get used to the conditions. India have their first game against Bangladesh on June 6. But before that they play warm-up matches against New Zealand next Monday and against Pakistan on Wednesday.

Most of the players in the current team played in the Indian Premier League in South Africa and the team is regarded as favourites by quite a few experts around the world.

Dhoni and his squad before leaving to England for ICC T20 World Cup

Before leaving to England, the skipper said in a press conference that his team is a little bit tired after the IPL but is confident that India would retain the T20 World Cup.

Dhoni further added that they did not feel the need for a warm up session as they have had enough practice through this IPL. He was pleased with the fact that he had plenty of options with regards to non-regular bowlers, especially in spin department and that all his players have the experience of handling pressure by playing in the IPL.

Part timers Yuvraj Singh and Rohit Sharma had taken hat-tricks in IPL and Suresh Raina, and Yusuf Pathan had been good over the tournament. Ravindra Jadeja was praised for his high talents inspite of his limited international experience.

The 27-year-old Indian skipper was not too concerned about the team’s opening combinations in both batting and bowling when queried about the indifferent forms of opening batsmen Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir and bowlers Ishant Sharma and an injured Zaheer Khan.

Dhoni said the team members would have to make best use of the days they have at their disposal after reaching England prior to Indias opening match.

Dhoni was confident that good cricket-playing wickets would be in evidence during the competition that ends on June 21.

Dhoni also brushed aside concerns that the team would be fatigued by now after playing non-stop cricket since the tour to New Zealand earlier this year and the IPL.

Related posts

• Chennai Super Kings Vs Knight Riders: Match called off due to Rain (0)
• T20 World Cup 2009 Team Announced: RP Singh Back (0)
• India’s performance in Champions Trophy (0)
• Chennai Super Kings Vs Mumbai Indians: Will Chennai take revenge on Mumbai? (0)
• Royal Challengers vs Kings XI Punjab: RC won by 8 wickets (0)

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) announced the Twenty20 World Cup team on Monday.

The selection committee, headed by Chairman Krishnamachari Srikkanth, named Mahendra Singh Dhoni as the captain of the 15-man squad.

The other players included in the squad are Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Suresh Raina, Yuvraj Singh, Yusuf Pathan, Rohit Sharma, Harbhajan Singh, Zaheer Khan, Ishant Sharma, Praveen Kumar, Rudra Pratap Singh, Ravindra Jadeja, Pragyan Ojha and Irfan Pathan.

A preliminary meeting was held in Cape Town on April 24.

The selection committee said they had considered the players’ performance in the ongoing Indian Premier League as well before naming the squad.

However, despite his astounding performance in the IPL so far, Mumbai Indians’ Abhishek Nayar could not make it to the final list.

Other players who were expected to be included were L. Balaji, Dhawal Kulkarni, Ajit Agarkar, Robin Uthappa, Joginder Sharma, S. Sreesanth and Piyush Chawla.

The T20 World Cup will start in London on June 5.

Related posts

• Match 9: Pakistan Vs Netherlands: Pakistan set 176 target (0)
• Match 11: West Indies Vs Sri Lanka: Sanath and Dilshan led Lanka win by 15 runs (0)
• South Africa Vs Australia: SA clinches T20 (0)
• Crowe criticizes Sehwag (0)
• Kolkata Knight Riders Vs Mumbai Indians: Mumbai beat Kolkata by 9 runs (0)

Just after Virender Sehwag said that he would like to play as a middle order batsman again, former Indian Test stars have their suggestions and opinions and have given an unanimous thumbs down to his idea.

Former players Sandeep Patil, Nayan Mongia and Ajit Wadekar strongly believe that Sehwag should continue to open the batting as his solid starts along with Gautam Gambhir was helping the team win more matches than never before.

Sandeep Patil, who himself was an attacking middle order batsman during early 80s and was a member of the 1983 World Cup winning team, said the Indian team’s new-found overseas success was mainly due to the solid starts given by the two Delhi openers Sehwag and Gambhir and secondly due to the lion-hearted bowling by the Indian seamers, particularly Zaheer Khan and Ishant Sharma.

Related posts

• Australia down to 4th place in ICC Test Rankings (0)
• Day 1 India Vs NZ – Scores (0)
• Gary Kirsten blames IPL (0)
• Modi said IPL will be expanded to 10 Teams by 2011 (0)
• Gambir turning to be Next Indian Wall (0)

Dhoni led India’s victorious cricketers returned home in batches in different cities on Thursday after their historic Test series triumph in New Zealand.

While charismatic skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni, man-of-the-series Gautam Gambhir, opener Virender Sehwag, pacer Ishant Sharma and spinner Amit Mishra landed at the capital’s Indira Gandhi International Airport, Sachin Tendulkar and four others – Zaheer Khan, Harbhajan Singh, Munaf Patel and Dhawal Kulkarni – returned to a turbulent welcome in Mumbai.

Some members of the team’s support staff also landed in Mumbai along with Tendulkar and co.

The south-based cricketers, including Rahul Dravid and VVS Laxman, went directly to their respective cities.

Under Dhoni, India defeated New Zealand in their own backyard in a Test series for the first time since Mansur Ali Khan Pataudi’s team had outdone the Kiwis in 1967-68. Dhoni and his colleagues were greeted to a tumultuous welcome by a large number of fans who had gathered at the airport.

Sehwag was accompanied by his wife Aarti, while Ishant’s father, Vijay Sharma was there at the airport to receive his son.

Tendulkar thanked the countrymen soon after landing in Mumbai, saying the entire nation supported the team in its quest of creating history on Kiwi soil.

“It’s an achievement. Everyone is happy. The entire country has supported us. It was victory after 41 years,” the champion batsman told reporters at the Sahara airport.

Related posts

• Former players suggest Sehwag should continue to open (0)
• Kings XI Unveils new sport shirt (0)
• Aussies Slip to 3rd place (0)
• Dhoni to take fitness test on Wednesday (0)
• Dhoni is number one batsman (0)