Mumbai, Sep 3 (IANS) Former captain Sourav Ganguly and leg spinner Anil Kumble were left out of the Indian squad announced here Sunday for the Champions Trophy to be held in India in October-November as well as for a tri-nation tournament in Malaysia this month.
Niranjan Shah, secretary of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), said the selection committee headed by Kiran More decided to retain the 15-member squad that toured Sri Lanka for the triangular series against Australia and the West Indies Sep 12-24.
"We are not sure whether Kumble would be fully fit by the Champions Trophy. So we have decided to leave him. Kumble is a very senior guy and can get back into the team any time. He is our best bowler and we have to take a long term view," said More.
Kumble was expected to return to the one-day scheme of things until he developed a tendonitis of the shoulder during his county stint for Surrey.
Medium pacer S. Sreesanth, who was in the squad for the Sri Lankan tour, was also not included in the 14-man team for the Champions Trophy.
"Sreesanth is definitely in our future plans but we thought that Rudra Pratap Singh should get a chance. Rudra Pratap has done pretty well in the past and has also played well in India A tour to Australia," More commented.
On Sourav being left out, Shah said: "The selectors wanted to retain the same Sri Lanka-bound squad for the Malaysia series and only one had to be left out for the Champions Trophy."
Board secretary also went on to add that Kumble is still in their plans and the decision to ignore the ace spinner was taken keeping in mind the tour to South Africa in November-December.
"We do not want to aggravate his injury. He is a senior bowler and we want him to be in the side for an important series against South Africa," he said.
The 10-nation Champions Trophy will be played Oct 7-Nov 5 at four venues - Mumbai, Ahmedabad, Mohali and Jaipur.
Teams:
Champions Trophy: Rahul Dravid (captain), Virender Sehwag, Sachin Tendulkar, Mohammed Kaif, Yuvraj Singh, Suresh Raina, Mahendra Singh Dhoni (wicketkeeper), Dinesh Mongia, Harbhajan Singh, Ramesh Powar, Irfan Pathan, Rudra Pratap Singh, Munaf Patel and Ajit Agarkar
Triangular series: Rahul Dravid (captain), Virender Sehwag, Sachin Tendulkar, Yuvraj Singh, Mohammed Kaif, Suresh Raina, Dinesh Mongia, Mahendra Singh Dhoni (wicketkeeper), Irfan Pathan, S. Sreesanth, Ajit Agarkar, Rudra Pratap Singh, Munaf Patel, Harbhajan Singh and Ramesh Powar