M A I N   N E W S

ICC knockout tournament
Azhar, Jadeja, Mongia dropped

CHENNAI, Sept 2 (PTI) — The national selectors today axed former captains Mohammad Azharuddin and Ajay Jadeja along with off-spinner Nikhil Chopra — whose homes and offices were searched by Income Tax officials recently — out of the list of 23 probables for the ICC knockout tournament in Nairobi next month.

A decision on whether Kapil Dev would continue as coach would be announced by the cricket board (BCCI) President A.C. Muthiah shortly, its secretary Jaywant Lele told reporters immediately after the selection committee meeting here.

The decision on Kapil Dev would be made before the start of the conditioning camp here on September 14, Lele said and added that the final squad for the Nairobi tournament would be selected on September 20. The camp will end on September 23.

Pace spearhead Javagal Srinath was not considered at his own request that he be kept out of the one-day side, selection committee chairman Chandu Borde said.

Saurav Ganguly and Rahul Dravid continue as captain and vice-captain of the team respectively.

The probables: Saurav Ganguly (captain), Rahul Dravid (vice-captain), Sachin Tendulkar, S. Ramesh, Vinod Kambli, Hemang Badani, S. Sriram, Yuvraj Singh, Jacob Martin, Mohd Kaif, Ajay Ratra, Reuben Paul, Vijay Dahiya, Robin Singh, Sunil Joshi, Reetinder Singh Sodhi, Anil Kumble, Ajit Agarkar, Venkatesh Prasad, Amit Bhandari, Zakir Khan, T. Kumaran and Debashish Mohanty.

About the composition of the team, Borde said the selectors were not influenced by BCCI’s proposal to build a team for the 2003 World Cup, but had decided on their own to pump in new blood.

“The board President Mr A.C. Muthiah met us and had a cup of tea (with us) but gave us no directive,” Borde said. However, Lele contended: “We had the future in mind and are looking at the 2003 World Cup. The 23 we have chosen will be the nucleus for the future.

Interestingly, the selectors chose as many as three uncapped wicket-keepers — Haryana’s Ajay Ratra, Tamil Nadu’s Rueben Paul and Delhi’s Vijay Dahiya.

Reacting to Nayan Mongia’s exclusion, Borde said Mongia was an experienced stumper and did not need to be in the camp.

The team is, however, short of quality allrounders and off-spinners, Borde said.