Indian team announced, no place for Sehwag, Harbhajan

Finally, its turn for Veeru to sit out and think what went wrong and where? The Indian team for Ireland and England tours has been announced, sans Virendra Sehwag and spinner Harbhajan Singh. The other players who have been dropped are Munaf Patel and Irfan Pathan.

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While the team for the Tests has been announced, the squad for the seven one-day matches against England will be named later. India begins with an ODI against Ireland on 23 June, then three more against the South Africa and one with Pakistan.

The first Test beings at Lord’s on 19 July.

The axe fell on Shewag in the wake of his performance in the current season, which has been quite dismal, and he has no shown of regaining his lost touch. Similar is the case with Harbhajan, whose performance has been subject to criticism as he has failed to take wickets in recent tests. For the same reason he was dropped in Bangladesh during Tests.

Dilip Vengsarkar made it clear that players will be judged on the basis of their domestic performances, those doing well at national level would get a chance to show their worth one international scene. The same criteria applies to these dropped players.

Both Sachin Tendulkar and Suarav Ganguly make an entry into the ODI team once again, after being rested in ODIs in Bangladesh. Sachin will be deputy to Rahul Dravid in Tests, while Mahendra Singh Dhoni be the vice-captain for the ODIs.

Uncapped Bengal paceman Ranadeb Bose, 28, is the new face in the 16-player squad for the three Tests during the July-September tour. Whereas, youngster batsman Rohit Sharma, 20, has been included in the 15, for one-day games against Ireland and South Africa.

His recent Ranji performances have enabled Bose an entry into the national side. He took 57 wickets in eight matches for Bengal in the Ranji Trophy. Mumbai's Sharma gathered 531 runs in the same tournament, earning him a national cap.

Dinesh Karthik, who is in magnetic touch currently, will open with Wasim Jaffer in the tests. Ramesh Powar will form India’s spin attack along with Anil Kumble.

Gautam Gambhir is the third opening batsman in the squad.

Indian team will go into the two tournaments without a coach. Chandu Borde has been named manager for both the tours.

Squad for Tests against England: Rahul Dravid (capt), Sachin Tendulkar (v-capt), Wasim Jaffer, Dinesh Karthik, Sourav Ganguly, VVS Laxman, Yuvraj Singh, Mahendra S. Dhoni, Zaheer Khan, Shanthakumaran Sreesanth, RP Singh, Anil Kumble, Ramesh Powar, Gautam Gambhir, Ishant Sharma, Ranadeb Bose.

ODI squad against Ireland and South Africa: Dravid (capt), Dhoni (v-capt), Gambhir, Ganguly, Tendulkar, Yuvraj Singh, Karthik, Zaheer Khan, Sreesanth, RP Singh, Ajit Agarkar, Piyush Chawla, Powar, Robin Uthappa, Rohit Sharma.

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Via: BBC