Ending weeks of speculation over Sourav Ganguly's fate, the national selectors on Monday named Rahul Dravid as the captain and inducted two uncapped players in the 15-member Indian squad for the cricket tri-series beginning in Sri Lanka on July 30.
Ganguly, serving a six-match ban from one-day internationals, was provisionally included as the 16th member of the squad although his participation is subject to the ban being lifted by the International Cricket Council in time for the series.
Young Uttar Pradesh all rounder Suresh Raina and Andhra batsman Venugopal Rao were the two new faces in the squad announced by BCCI Secretary SK Nair after a meeting of the selection committee.
Stylish middle order batsman VVS Laxman staged a comeback to the one-day fold while Ajit Agarkar, Dinesh Mongia and Murali Kartik were omitted for the series, which has West Indies as the third team.
Sachin Tendulkar was expectedly not included as he is recuperating from an elbow injury and has been ruled out till at least the end of August.
Nair said the selection committee considered Ganguly's case and decided to include him provisionally. "He will tour Sri Lanka if the ban is lifted," Nair said.
{{/usCountry}}Nair said the selection committee considered Ganguly's case and decided to include him provisionally. "He will tour Sri Lanka if the ban is lifted," Nair said.
{{/usCountry}}Squad: Rahul Dravid (capt), Virender Sehwag (vice-capt), VVS Laxman, Yuvraj Singh, Mohd Kaif, Suresh Raina, Venugopal Rao, Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Harbhajan Singh, Anil Kumble, Zaheer Khan, Irfan Pathan, L Balaji, Ashish Nehra and JP Yadav. Sourav Ganguly - 16th member.