Another door closes on Dada
Jaffer To Lead Rest Of India; Zaheer, Kartik Included
TIMES NEWS NETWORK
Chennai: The doors are slowing closing one by one for Sourav Ganguly. The latest to shut on him denied an entry in the Rest of India squad for the Irani Trophy match against Uttar Pradesh to be held at Nagpur from October 9.
The Dilip Vengsarkar-headed panel has taken the former India captain's current form while omitting him.
"Of late, his performance has not been great. You have to score consistently to be picked. He has not scored consistently. We picked those who have showed consistency,'' Vengsarkar reasoned after the selection meeting on Wednesday.
Ganguly's scores have been far from impressive. In two matches of the Challenger Series here he scored 24 & 3. Earlier in the county matches representing Northamptonshire, he could only muster 19 runs (five innings) from three games. He fared marginally better in a one-day match scoring 71.
Yet, Vengsarkar wasn't willing to rule out Ganguly completely. "Players like him and a few others will be playing in the forthcoming domestic tournaments. Depending on their performances they will come in for contention.''
Keeping in with theme of the selection, most players made it on the basis of their performances, including Zaheer Khan and Murali Kartik. Among them were 20-year-old Hyderabad left-arm spinner Pragyan Ojha, 19-year-old Tamil Nadu medium-pacer Yo Mahesh amd 19-year-old Mumbai middle-order bat Rohit Sharma.
Injured VVS Laxman and pacers L Balaji and Ashish Nehra, who returned to the game after a long injury lay-off, have been overlooked from the squad to be led by opener Wasim Jaffer.
Board secretary Niranjan Shah informed that Suresh Raina, Mohammad Kaif and RP Singh will not turn out for UP as they will be busy with Champions Trophy campagin.
Asked about Zaheer Khan, who got the nod ahead of Tamil Nadu's L. Balaji, Vengsarkar said the seamer has performed well in the English county. "Both have bowled extremely well in the Challenger Trophy. The panel considered Zaheer's performance in county. And Balaji has just recovered from an injury.''
Rest of India squad: Wasim Jaffer (capt), Venugopala Rao (vice-capt), Robin Uthappa, Gautam Gambhir, S Badrinath, Dinesh Kaarthick, VRV Singh, S Sreesanth, Zaheer Khan, Murali Kartik, Pragyan Ojha, Rohit Sharma, Sourashish Lahiri, Yo Mahesh.
Jaffer To Lead Rest Of India; Zaheer, Kartik Included
TIMES NEWS NETWORK
Chennai: The doors are slowing closing one by one for Sourav Ganguly. The latest to shut on him denied an entry in the Rest of India squad for the Irani Trophy match against Uttar Pradesh to be held at Nagpur from October 9.
The Dilip Vengsarkar-headed panel has taken the former India captain's current form while omitting him.
"Of late, his performance has not been great. You have to score consistently to be picked. He has not scored consistently. We picked those who have showed consistency,'' Vengsarkar reasoned after the selection meeting on Wednesday.
Ganguly's scores have been far from impressive. In two matches of the Challenger Series here he scored 24 & 3. Earlier in the county matches representing Northamptonshire, he could only muster 19 runs (five innings) from three games. He fared marginally better in a one-day match scoring 71.
Yet, Vengsarkar wasn't willing to rule out Ganguly completely. "Players like him and a few others will be playing in the forthcoming domestic tournaments. Depending on their performances they will come in for contention.''
Keeping in with theme of the selection, most players made it on the basis of their performances, including Zaheer Khan and Murali Kartik. Among them were 20-year-old Hyderabad left-arm spinner Pragyan Ojha, 19-year-old Tamil Nadu medium-pacer Yo Mahesh amd 19-year-old Mumbai middle-order bat Rohit Sharma.
Injured VVS Laxman and pacers L Balaji and Ashish Nehra, who returned to the game after a long injury lay-off, have been overlooked from the squad to be led by opener Wasim Jaffer.
Board secretary Niranjan Shah informed that Suresh Raina, Mohammad Kaif and RP Singh will not turn out for UP as they will be busy with Champions Trophy campagin.
Asked about Zaheer Khan, who got the nod ahead of Tamil Nadu's L. Balaji, Vengsarkar said the seamer has performed well in the English county. "Both have bowled extremely well in the Challenger Trophy. The panel considered Zaheer's performance in county. And Balaji has just recovered from an injury.''
Rest of India squad: Wasim Jaffer (capt), Venugopala Rao (vice-capt), Robin Uthappa, Gautam Gambhir, S Badrinath, Dinesh Kaarthick, VRV Singh, S Sreesanth, Zaheer Khan, Murali Kartik, Pragyan Ojha, Rohit Sharma, Sourashish Lahiri, Yo Mahesh.