The India one day international cricket team for the
upcoming VB triseries in Australia has been declared and in many surprising
moves for the series, ex- India captain Sourav Ganguly has been dropped from
reckoning for the upcoming challenge against the world champions. Sourav Ganguly
has been a permanent fixture for the India one day outfit ever since his return
to the fold in South Africa last winter and this would certainly hamper his
one day international career prospects in the future.
The
selectors have sent out a clear message that youth is to be preferred over experience
for the series, even though it is against the mighty Australia. Rahul Dravid has also been left out from the fold, although this was expected
following his axe from the one day team for India's recent one day series against
Pakistan. Mahendra Singh Dhoni will lead a side that includes many surprising
inclusions like Praveen Kumar and Manoj Tewary and will be hoping that his young
troops can give the Australians a run for their money in the upcoming triangular
series that also involves another sub continental team in SriLanka.
The selectors were quoted as saying that they wanted more youthful
exuberance in the team that would give them a fielding edge on huge Australian
grounds. Piyush Chawla slots into the team in place of Murali Karthik.
Karthik despite his excellent performances against Australia at home was dropped
as the selectors felt that the Australian pitches would suit a wrist spinner
more. Sreesanth slots straight back into the team after injury while Munaf Patel is left out as the selectors wanted to give him more time to heal
his injuries. Suresh Raina is recalled back into the side after some fine domestic
showing for Uttar Pradesh while Gautam Gambhir takes his place as expected
in the one day team.
India go into the one day series with huge optimism after their
impressive showing in the test matches where they put all the umpiring and off-field
controversies behind them to inflict a first defeat on Australia in four years.
A lot is expected from this young India one day cricket side and they
will be hoping to live up to the expectations of the millions of India cricket
fans following the side though print and online media. Catch up on all the action
from the VB series with our wide range of services like India cricket score
updates on our scorecards and unofficial live commentary here, the premium cricket
portal.
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