Tendulkar is in, no luck for Kumble

Dinesh Mongia is the only other player to have been recalled for SL tri-series. Can Sachin's performance inspire Indian team?

Sachin Tendulkar on Thursday returned to India's one-day squad after a long injury layoff while all-rounder Dinesh Mongia earned a surprise recall for the upcoming cricket tri-series in Sri Lanka.

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Tendulkar, out of action for close to four months following a shoulder surgery, expectedly found his way back into the 15-member team after being declared fit two days back.

Punjab all-rounder Mongia was rewarded for his fine show in English county with a berth in the squad announced by BCCI Secretary Niranjan Shah after a one and a half hour meeting of the five-member selection panel.

Opener Robin Uthappa and middle-order batsman Venugopala Rao were left out of the squad that recently lost a one-day series to the West Indies 4-1.

The national selectors also chose to ignore veteran leg spinner Anil Kumble who has been out of the India's one-day scheme for long but was widely speculated to stage a comeback after emerging as the highest wicket-taker in the Tests in the Caribbean with 23 scalps.

However, Chief Selector Kiran More said that the selectors had a "right plan" in mind for the experienced spinner to make a comeback to the shorter version of the game.

Former India captain Sourav Ganguly, currently testing himself out for Northamptonshire in English county, continued to find himself out of favour.

Squad:

Virender Sehwag, Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid (captain), Yuvraj Singh, Mohammad Kaif, Suresh Raina, MS Dhoni (wicket-keeper), Irfan Pathan, Ramesh Powar, Harbhajan Singh, Ajit Agarkar, S Sreesanth, Dinesh Mongia, Munaf Patel, RP Singh