Kumble unavailable, Srinath rested for NZ tour
Faisal Shariff
There were two notable omissions in the 16-member Indian team for the Test series in New Zealand, which was announced in Mumbai on Monday.
Veteran seamer Javagal Srinath has been rested after a tough series against the West Indies while leg-spinner Anil Kumble sent a letter to the Board of Control for Cricket in India saying that he would be unavailable due to personal reasons.
Ashish Nehra would be given another oppurtunity despite his poor showing in recent times while S S Das makes a comeback.
Wicket-keeper Parthiv Patel retains his place in the squad but he will have to compete with Ajay Ratra for a place in the eleven as the selectors opted to go in for two wicket-keepers
The Indian team will also have the services of Sachin Tendulkar and left-arm paceman Zaheer Khan. Both missed the ODI series against the West Indies due to injury.
The squad: Sourav Ganguly (captain), Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag, V V S Laxman, Sanjay Bangar, Murali Kartik, Harbhajan Singh, S S Das, Ajit Agarkar, Ashish Nehra, Zaheer Khan, Parthiv Patel, Mohammed Kaif, Ajay Ratra, Tinu Yohannan.
Mail Cricket Editor
