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Pathan was not considered: Vengsarkar

June 12, 2007 21:15 IST

Chairman of selectors Dilip Vengsarkar says Chandu Borde's appointment as manager for the tours of Ireland and England will go a long way towards Team India improving its performance.

Borde's name was proposed by BCCI president Sharad Pawar and unanimously approved by the members of the working committee, which met at Hotel Taj Palace in Delhi on Tuesday evening.
"He is a senior cricketer who led India. He was a former chairman of the selection committee. His appointment as cricket manager will definitely help," Vengsarkar told rediff.com after the press conference, in which he briefly dealt with the performances of some players.

Talking about Mahinder Singh Dhoni's appointment as vice-captain of the ODI team, and Sachin Tendulkar as vice-captain for the Tests, he said Dhoni "is doing well and is a thinking cricketer", while Sachin has natural talent and tremendous experience. "A player of his class can perform any time."

He said while Munaf Patel was unfit, Irfan Pathan was not even considered for selection.

"We did discuss the name of Harbhajan Singh, but we felt he needed to pick wickets on a regular basis. Randeep Bose was selected as he has the ability to swing the ball under English conditions."

"If Wasim Jaffer can come back why cannot Sehwag do the same," he said, in reply to a question why Sehwag was not included in any of the teams announced on Tuesday.

Onkar Singh in Delhi