Ganguly left out of Irani Trophy

Sourav Ganguly on Monday was not included in the Rest of India squad for the Irani Trophy match against Ranji Trophy champions Delhi to be played in Baroda, starting on September 24.

The selectors today put a huge question mark over the future of former India skipper Sourav Ganguly and Yuvraj Singh by leaving the left-handed duo out of the Rest of India squad for the September 24-28 Irani Cup tie against Ranji Trophy champions Delhi at Vadodara.

Ganguly had a poor Test series in Sri Lanka along with the other three senior batsmen -- Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid and V V S Laxman -- while Yuvraj has been in indifferent form in the ODIs.

Tendulkar, Dravid and Laxman were, however, included in the 14-man team to be led by Anil Kumble.

The outgoing Dilip Vengsarkar-led five-member committee provided a fresh lease of life to the stuttering career of Mohammed Kaif by including him for the season-opening clash touted as a virtual selection trial for the upcoming Test series against the mighty Australian squad.

The season-opening domestic fixture has assumed importance following a poor showing of some senior batsmen on the just-concluded tour of Sri Lanka, which saw India lose the Test series 1-2.

The selectors also named the India 'A' squad, to be led by S Badrinath, for the triangular series against Australia 'A' and New Zealand 'A' from September 15-26 in Chennai and Hyderabad.

Irani Cup team : Anil Kumble (C), Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar, V V S Laxman, Wasim Jaffer, M S Dhoni (vice-captain, wk), Mohd Kaif, Harbhajan Singh, Pragyan Ojha, Zaheer Khan, Munaf Patel, R P Singh, Parthiv Patel (wk) and Ashok Dinda. PTI