Tendulkar, Mongia in team for tri-series

Tendulkar, who had been sidelined with a shoulder injury since March, was declared fit by Indian physio John Gloster as the Board opted not to hold a fitness test for the batting ace.

The 15-member squad for the tri-series, also involving South Africa, was announced after the selection committee, chaired by Kiran More, met in Mumbai along with captain Rahul Dravid on Thursday.

Tendulkar and Mongia come in place of Venugopala Rao and Robin Uthappa, who were both part of the squad for the recent one-day series against the West Indies, which India lost 1-4.

More defended the decision of not having a fitness test for Tendulkar.

"John Gloster gave us the full report of his fitness. He was with Sachin for three days and he is absolutely satisfied with his condition. Tendulkar played five matches in England [for Lashings] and also bowled a few overs in these matches, which proved that he is fit. There is still one month to go for the Sri Lanka series and there is also the camp before that in Bangalore. So he has time and that is why we thought a fitness test was not required for him.

Veteran leg spinner Anil Kumble, who was one of the architects of India's Test series triumph in the West Indies, again failed to find favour with the team management.

It was widely believed that the veteran leg spinner would be recalled to the one-day side, but More said the selectors are planning to play him only in important tournaments.

"He is an important player for us and we do not want to play him in all the matches, as there is a chance of him getting injured," More replied to a query on Kumble's exclusion.

At which he was told that Kumble is playing for Surrey in the English county league and he could get injured there too. The chairman of selectors then preferred to end the debate and just said, "We know what we are targeting, we have something in mind for him."

Mongia, 29, played his last one-day international against Pakistan in New Delhi last year. The Punjab player, deemed an all-rounder, has 1073 runs at 27.51 and eight wickets in 51 ODIs to his name. More said Mongia was preferred as he provided more balance to the team.

"Mongia is an ideal all-rounder. Mongia can be useful as a left-arm spin option since both Harbhajan [Singh] and [Ramesh] Powar are both off-spinners. We are looking towards the future. He had a good county stint as well as domestic season."

Rudra Pratap Singh, Ramesh Powar and Ajit Agarkar retained their places in the one-day side.

More also said the team's main concern is the fast bowling department.

"We have taken five fast bowlers to Sri Lanka so that if anyone like Sreesanth or Irfan doesn't do well, his place can be taken by someone else. The fast bowling is our main concern at the moment and we are looking to do something about it."

There was also no place for former captain Sourav Ganguly and left-arm pacer Zaheer Khan, who are both plying their wares in English county cricket.

The Indian squad will undergo a fitness camp from July 25 to August 1 and then a cricket specific camp from August 6-10 before flying to Sri Lanka.

Ashish Nehra, Laxmipathy Balaji and Murali Karthik, who are all recovering from injuries, along with some India 'A' players will also attend the camp.

The tri-series matches will be played at Colombo from August 14 to 29. Sanjay Jagdale will be the team manager.