Teams for Challenger Trophy announced

Despite indications that they would skip the Challenger Trophy tournament, Sachin Tendulkar and Saurav Ganguly were on Thursday named as captains of the India seniors team and the India A team which will take part in the competition, to be held at Ahmedabad from February 10 to 13.

The three teams were picked in Mumbai by the national selection committee. In the wake of the disastrous tour by the Indian team `Down Under' and talk already of the broom being at work, there was considerable interest in the the composition of the three teams.

Under the circumstances, the selectors have done well in giving players on the comeback trail like Md Azharuddin, Vinod Kambli and Ajay Jadeja a chance and recognizing both the feats performed around the domestic circuit and the showing of the victorious Under-19 World Cup squad in Sri Lanka.

Azharuddin finds a place in the India A team, led by Ganguly while Jadeja will captain the Indian B side. Tendulkar will lead the India seniors which consists of members of the Indian team which toured Australia and Kambli. The 28-year-old Mumbai left hander has been among the runs this season and given his class and experience, he certainly warrants another look by the selection committee.

The India A team is a mixture of youth and experience. The experience is provided by Ganguly, Azharuddin and Mongia. The rest of the side comprises young players who have done well around the domestic circuit in Tamil Nadu left hander S Sarath, Delhi's consistent run getter Virendra Shewag, Karnataka's in form opening batsman J Arun Kumar, promising left arm spinner Murali Kartik, Delhi medium pacer Amit Bhandari, Tamil Nadu all rounder Aashish Kapoor, medium pacer Thiru Kumaran and Niraj Patel of Gujarat who did a fine job while bolstering the middle order batting for the victorious under-19 team in Sri Lanka.

The under-19 team has five representatives in the India B team in Yuveraj Singh, RS Sodhi, Anup Dave, Md Kaif and wicket keeper Ajay Ratra. Here also consistency around the domestic circuit has been rewarded and there are places for Bengal opening batsman Nikhil Haldipur, UP's opening batsman Jai P Yadav, Devendra Bundela of MP, RR Parida of Orissa while there is a fair amount of experience in the new ball attack which is spearheaded by Dodda Ganesh and Debashish Mohanty.

Those not considered from among the players who went to Australia are Ajit Agarkar, Devang Gandhi, Hrishikesh Kanitkar, Vijay Bhardwaj and MSK Prasad. The injured Sadagopan Ramesh was out of the reckoning.

Announcing the teams, Board of Control for Cricket in India secretary JY Lele said it was mandatory for all the selected players to take part in the tournament unless they were able to prove they were unfit.

Lele confirmed that Agarkar was not considered for selection. On the injuries to VVS Laxman and Jacob Martin, Lele said they would need eight days to recover. It is assumed then that the two will be fit for the tournament.

India seniors: Sachin Tendulkar (Mumbai, captain), VVS Laxman (Hyderabad), Rahul Dravid (Karnataka) Jacob Martin (Baroda), Robin Singh (Tamil Nadu), Anil Kumble (Karnataka), Nikhil Chopra (Delhi), Sunil Joshi (Karnataka), Sameer Dighe (Mumbai), Javagal Srinath (Karnataka), Venkatesh Prasad (Karnataka) and Vinod Kambli (Mumbai).

India A: Saurav Ganguly (Bengal, captain), Md Azharuddin (Hyderabad), Nayan Mongia (Baroda), J Arun Kumar (Karnataka), S Sarath (Tamil Nadu), Virendra Shewag (Delhi), Murali Karthik (Rlys), Amit Bhandari (Delhi), Sanjai Bangar (Railways), T Kumaran (Tamil Nadu), Aashish Kapoor (Tamil Nadu) and Niraj Patel (Gujarat).

India B: Ajay Jadeja (J & K, captain), Nikhil Haldipur (Bengal), Yuveraj Singh (Punjab), Md Kaif (UP), Anup Dave (Rajasthan), Jai P Yadav (UP), Devendra Bundela (MP), RS Sodhi (Punjab), Dodda Ganesh (Karnataka), RR Parida (Orissa), Ajay Ratra (Haryana) and D Mohanty (Orissa).