Cricket: Kumble out of test squad

India's leading bowler, Anil Kumble, has opted out of next month's two-match test series against New Zealand for personal reasons and was not included in the 16-man squad named last night.

But Kumble, a legspinner and India's most successful current bowler with 349 wickets in 76 tests, will be available for the seven-game one-day series.

Batting star Sachin Tendulkar and left-arm paceman Zaheer Khan, who had missed the recent ODI series against the West Indies, have been declared fit. Tendulkar had a hamstring injury and Zaheer was resting a troublesome knee. The ODI squad will be picked in mid-December.

Indian squad: Saurav Ganguly (capt), Virender Sehwag, Sanjay Bangar, Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar, Vangipurappu Laxman, Parthiv Patel, Ajit Agarkar, Harbhajan Singh, Zaheer Khan, Ashish Nehra, Murali Kartik, Mohammad Kaif, Shiv Sundar Das, Ajay Ratra, Tinu Yohannan.