Cricket: India selectors recall former captain

The Indian selectors yesterday retained sacked captain Saurav Ganguly for the first test in next month's home series against Sri Lanka.

Ganguly had been the subject of intense speculation after he was sacked as one-day captain last month following a prolonged batting slump and a major row with coach Greg Chappell.
Rahul Dravid, who took over, was also appointed test captain after his fine start in the one-day role.

Chief selector Kiran More said that Ganguly, India's most successful test captain, had been chosen as a batting all-rounder in the squad.

"He definitely has to prove himself in the coming series also," he said.

Ganguly, 33, has taken only 25 wickets with his occasional seamers from 84 tests.

More said he was included only after a lengthy debate among the five selectors.

Ganguly's international future had looked bleak after he was omitted from the one-day team which crushed Sri Lanka 6-1 at home this month, ending its string of poor results.

The selectors also drafted in uncapped wicketkeeper Mahendra Dhoni, 24, rewarding the stocky player for his brilliant contribution with the bat in recent one-dayers.

They also picked uncapped 19-year-old paceman Rudra Pratap Singh after his promising start in one-dayers.

Sachin Tendulkar was back in the test squad after missing the 2-0 sweep in Zimbabwe in September because of elbow surgery.

The three-test series starts in Chennai on December 2.

India squad:

R. Dravid (c), V. Sehwag, S. Tendulkar, V. Laxman, Y. Singh, S. Ganguly, M. Kaif, M. Dhoni, A. Kumble, I. Pathan, H. Singh, A. Agarkar, R. Pratap Singh, M. Kartik, G. Gambhir.

One-day squad: Dravid (c), Sehwag, Tendulkar, Gambhir, Y. Singh, Suresh Raina, Mahendra Dhoni, Pathan, Jai Prakash Yadav, H. Singh, Agarkar, R. Singh, S. Sreesanth, Kartik.

- REUTERS