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Ganguly in 16 man squad for Pakistan tour |
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Written by Rasesh
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Saturday, 24 December 2005 |
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Saurav Ganguly has been included in the test team announced for the upcoming Pakistan tour. The selection committee headed by Kiran More announced a 16 member team scheduled to play 3 tests in January. Also back in the team are pacer Zaheer Khan, who fought his way back into the team through strong consistent performances in domestic cricket, and discarded wicket-keeper batsman Parthiv Patel who has been included as a back up to Mahendra Singh Dhoni for the gruelling tour.
Speculation was rife in the media about the return of Ganguly after his meeting with BCCI chief Sharad Pawar and public outrage against him being dropped after scoring some useful runs in the Kotla test against Sri Lanka.The selectors justified his selection on the premise that on a tough tour like Pakistan his experience would strenghten the Indian middle order. Ganguly had earlier announced that he would continue playing domestic cricket and fight his way back into the team after being harshly treated by the selectors.
Among those left out were Mohd Kaif, who failed in both innings in the Ahmedabad test and Murali Kartik, who was left out due to reports of green tops awaiting the Indians in Pakistan, forcing the selectors to include an extra fast bowler.The selectors though insisted that the youngsters would get plenty of oppotunities in the future.
BCCI Secretary Niranjan Shah also announced the new contracts for the players and the retention of Ganguly in Grade A will be a shot in the arm for the confidence of the former captain before he embarks on the tough tour to Pakistan. The notable promotion into Grade A was that of the rising star of Indian cricket, all rounder Irfan Pathan, who has been rewarded for being instrumental in Team India's success in the last few months.
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Last Updated ( Sunday, 25 December 2005 )
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