India Pakistan 2007 Cricket Series in India
Afridi left out, Kaneria, Sami back in Test squad
Nov 16, 2007
After failing to make much impact in the ODI series, flamboyant all-rounder Shahid Afridi was today left out of the 14-member Pakistan cricket squad for the three-match Test series against India starting November 22.
Apart from Afridi, three others -- Fawad Alam, Rao Iftikhar and Imran Nazir -- will also return home after the fifth and final one-dayer in Jaipur.
The selectors have brought in leg spinner Danish Kaneria, pacer Mohammad Sami and batsman Faisal Iqbal in place of the omitted quartet.
Pakistan have already lost the five-match ODI series after losing the fourth game in Gwalior yesterday to go down 1-3.
Earlier, pacer Mohammad Asif failed to pass a fitness test, which ruled him out of the series.
Salahuddin admitted that Asif's failure to recover from his elbow injury has come as a blow to the team.
"He is a good pacer and ideal for Test matches. But since he is yet not recovered from his elbow injury we had no option left," he said.
Asif also missed the one-day series because of the injury after being initially picked in the squad.
The chief selector said Asif would be sent to Australia by the Pakistan cricket Board (PCB) for examination by a sports medicine specialist.
"We are hoping he will make a complete recovery from his injury before our next series," he said.
The chief selector said losing the one-day series was a setback and disappointing but hoped that the players will learn from their mistakes and do better in the Tests.
Pakistan Test Squad: Shoaib Malik (c), Younis Khan, Abdur Rehman, Danish Kaneria, Faisal Iqbal, Mohammad Sami, Kamran Akmal (wk), Misbah-ul-Haq, Mohammad Yousuf, Salman Butt, Shoaib Akhtar, Sohail Tanvir, Umar Gul, Yasir Hameed.
Kartik, Harbhajan recalled into Test squad
Nov 14, 2007
India off spinner Harbhajan Singh has been handed a test recall after selectors included him in the 14-player squad announced on Wednesday for the first two tests against Pakistan.
The 27-year-old was dropped from the test and one-day teams after the World Cup in March due to poor form and missed the test series win in England that concluded in August.
However, Harbhajan earned a recall to the one-day side after helping India win the Twenty20 World Cup in September and his strong recent performances have impressed the test selectors.
Left-armer Murali Kartik was also included as the third specialist spinner after he did well on his one-day return in October.
Veteran leg spinner Anil Kumble leads the side for the three-test series while wicketkeeper Mahendra Singh Dhoni was named vice-captain, giving a clear indication the one-day and Twenty20 skipper will take over as test captain in the future.
India Test Squad: Anil Kumble (captain), Wasim Jaffer, Dinesh Karthik, Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar, Saurav Ganguly, Vangipurappu Laxman, Yuvraj Singh, Mahendra Singh Dhoni (wicketkeeper), Harbhajan Singh, Zaheer Khan, Rudra Pratap Singh, Shanthakumaran Sreesanth, Murali Kartik.
Kumble to lead India Test team against Pakistan
Nov 09, 2007
Anil Kumble was on Thursday named India's new Test captain for the upcoming home series against Pakistan ahead of ODI and Twenty20 skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni who was widely tipped to get the reins of the Test team as well. Kumble, a veteran of 118 Test and 271 One-day matches, got the job after Sachin Tendulkar turned down the offer two days back.
The leg spinner, who quit One-day cricket after this year's World Cup, has 566 wickets in 118 Tests, and is India's highest wicket-taker in the longer version of the game. He made his Test debut against England at Manchester in 1990 and is methodical and gentlemanly on and off the field, and has been a match-winner for India. He also equalled Jim Laker's record of
taking all 10 wickets in an innings when he achieved the feat against Pakistan in the Ferozeshah Kotla Test in 1999.
Dravid dropped from India's one-day squad; Sehwag is back
Oct 27, 2007
Former captain Rahul Dravid was dropped and his former deputy Virender Sehwag was recalled to the 15-member Indian One-day squad for the first two matches of the upcoming cricket series against arch-rivals Pakistan.
"We haven't spoken to him yet. We wanted to give him a break for a while," was how the India Chief Selector Dilip Vengsarkar responded to the media while talking about the decision to drop the 34-year-old Dravid, who struggled for runs right through the recent ODI series against Australia. He also added the selection committee had consulted captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni over telephone before finalising the squad for the first two matches to be held in
Guwahati (November 5) and
Mohali (November 8).
Left-handed opener Gautam Gambhir, who missed the last four matches in the series against Australia because of an injury, expectedly made a comeback in place of S Badrinath, while Uttar Pradesh paceman Praveen Kumar was the lone new face.
India Team against Pakistan: Mahendra Singh Dhoni (captain), Yuvraj Singh, Virender Sehwag, Sourav Ganguly, Sachin Tendulkar, Gautam Gambhir, Robin Uthappa, Rohit Sharma, Harbhajan Singh, Murali Kartik, Zaheer Khan, RP Singh, Irfan Pathan, S Sreesanth and Praveen Kumar.