Tendulkar opts out of Afro-Asian Cup

Sachin Tendulkar on Monday made way for Sourav Ganguly while Zaheer Khan was included as the sixth Indian in the revised 14-member one-day Asian cricket team for the Afro-Asian Cup beginning in Bangalore on June 6.

Schedule: Afro-Asian Cup

Sri Lankan Dilhara Fernando and Mashrafe Mortaza of Bangladesh were the other two new faces in the squad after Pakistani speedster Shoaib Akhtar and Sri Lankan pacemen Chaminda Vaas and Lasith Malinga made themselves unavailable for the three-match series.

Selectors of the second Afro-Asian Cup - ASM Farooque, Chetan Chauhan, Mohsin Khan and Lalith Kaluperuma -- named the revised squad after the four cricketers made themselves unavailable for the series.

"Following the unavailability of some players named in the original squads on May 11, the selectors have named their final squads for the three ODI matches in Bangalore and Chennai on June 6, 9 and 10 and the Twenty20 match on June 5," a statement said.

Virender Sehwag, Yuvraj Singh, Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Harbhajan Singh are the other four Indians who were named in the original squad announced earlier this month.

The 11-member squad for the Afro-Asian Twenty20 match also saw one change as S Sreesanth replaced Munaf Patel, who was called back from Bangladesh series due to lower back pain.

Sreesanth, who was also earlier recalled from Bangladesh owing to a calf muscle injury during the ODIs, has recovered to make a comeback to the international scene.

Revised Squads:

Asian team (ODIs): Mahela Jayawardene (Capt, Sri Lanka), Sanath Jayasuriya (Sri Lanka), Sourav Ganguly (India), Virender Sehwag (India), Mohammad Yousuf (Pakistan), Yuvraj Singh (India), Mahendra Singh Dhoni (India), Harbhajan Singh (India), Zaheer Khan (India), Mashrafe Mortaza (Bangladesh), Mohammad Asif (Pakistan), Mohammad Rafique (Bangladesh), Dilhara Fernando (Sri Lanka), Upul Tharanga (Sri Lanka).

Twenty20: Shoaib Malik (Captain, Pakistan), Tamim Iqbal (Bangladesh), Imran Nazir (Pakistan), Mohammad Ashraful (Bangladesh), Tillakaratne Dilshan (Sri Lanka), Shahid Afridi (Pakistan), Kamran Akmal (Pakistan), Abdur Razzak (Bangladesh), Farveez Maharoof (Sri Lanka), Mashrafe Mortaza (Bangladesh), S Sreesanth (India).