Dilip Vengsarkar

Ahmedabad: The selectors on Saturday sprang a major surprise by dropping former captain Rahul Dravid and recalling Virender Sehwag in the 15-member squad for the first two ODIs against Pakistan.

The 34-year-old Dravid, who struggled in the recent ODI series against Australia, was left out of the squad which has the lone new face in Uttar Pradesh paceman Praveen Kumar.

Young Praveen was rewarded for his consistent performance in domestic matches as well as India A tours.

Left-handed opener Gautam Gambhir, who missed the last four matches in the series against Australia owing to an injury, made a comeback in place of S. Badrinath in the squad announced by BCCI secretary Niranjan Shah after a selection committee meeting here.

Apart from Dravid’s exclusion, Sehwag’s recall was also a surprise as the Delhi batsman has not scored too many runs.

Chief selector Dilip Vengsarkar said the selection committee had consulted captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni over telephone before finalising the squad for the first two ODIs to be held in Guwahati (Nov. 5) and Mohali (Nov. 8).

“We have consulted Dhoni over the phone,” Vengsarkar said, adding “those who have not been picked definitely have a chance to comeback”.

On Sehwag, Vengsarkar said he had performed well in the current Challenger series and in the past against Pakistan.

“Sehwag has played a fine innings on Saturday and has also performed well in the past. He is an experienced player,” the chief selector said, referring to Sehwag’s 57-ball 75 in the third match of the Challenger series for the NKP Salve trophy here.

He said Praveen, who bagged a five-wicket haul on Friday, provided more options.

“Praveen has also done well for India A and he gives the team options.”

Vengsarkar said “Badrinath’s name was discussed” but they could pick only 15.

“Badrinath is a fine player but we could pick only 15. We have chosen a winning squad. There is a role for everyone who does well,” he said.

The chief selector said the Test captaincy issue didn’t come up for discussion in Saturday’s meeting. “We will discuss that in Mohali,” he said.

Shah said Lalchand Rajput would continue to be the interim cricket manager during the series against Pakistan.

Suresh Raina were among the prominent names to have missed the cut despite his impressive 92 in the Challenger.

Besides, wicketkeeper batsman Dinesh Karthik, Mohammed Kaif, spinner Ramesh Powar, pacemen Ajit Agarkar and Munaf Patel also missed out.

The selectors chose not to implement a rotation policy and retained seniors such as Sachin Tendulkar and Sourav Ganguly. (AGENCIES)