Ganguly returns to Test side, Laxman named vice-captain

New Delhi, Nov 30 (UNI) Riding on a sympathy wave and decent performance in domestic cricket, former skipper Sourav Ganguly today returned to the 16-member Indian Test team for the three-match series against South Africa starting December 15.

The selection committee also sprang a surprise by naming VVS Laxman as the vice captain of the Test squad, instead of Virender Sehwag.

Domestic performance also earned a recall to Delhi southpaw Gautam Gambhir and VRV Singh.

Ganguly, Gambhir and VRV will join the Indian team in South Africa while Mohammad Kaif, Suresh Raina, Dinesh Mongia and Ajit Agarkar would return home after the ODI series.

Chairman of the selection committee Dilip Vengsarkar said the batting failure in the ODI series against South Africa prompted the panel to pencil in experienced players like Laxman and Ganguly.

''Our batsmen are not doing well in South Africa and if you saw the ODIs, it's clear that our batting has failed there. The youngsters have just not been able to adjust to the bouncy tracks and the extra pace there.

''That's why we have decided to bring in more experience in the batting order and include players like Laxman and Sourav. And expect both of them to do well there,'' Vengsarkar said.

Vengsarkar also claimed that both coach Greg Chappell and captain Rahul Dravid were happy with the team.

''I have spoken to both Rahul and Chappell and they are extremely happy,'' he said.

Asked about choosing Laxman ahead of Sehwag for the vice captain's job, Vengsarkar said, ''This is just for the Test series and after all, Laxman has captained South Zone in domestic cricket.''

SPORTS-CRICKET-INDIA-LEAD SQUAD TWO LAST NEW DELHI Reminded of Chappell's sour relations with Ganguly and what kind of atmosphere it would be when both share the dressing room, Vengsarkar said, ''We picked what was the best Test side for India and nothing else was on our mind.'' Reminded that he had once described Laxman unfit for the ODIs and still the stylish right-hander was flown to South Africa as replacement for an injured Dravid, Vengsarkar stuck to his guns and said, ''He is there just for a one-day match and he is there as replacement. But I want to make it clear that I had never doubted Laxman's abilities. He is a fine batsman and there is no doubt about that.'' Vengsarkar had also preferred Wasim Jaffer ahead of Gautam Gambhir for the ODI series on the ground that the Mumbaikar has a better technique.

Now that Gambhir has found a place in the Test side, Vengsarkar reasoned, ''I never said Gambhir has a faulty technique but felt Jaffer is better equipped to deal with the extra bounce in South Africa.

''Anyway, Gambhir has scored runs in domestic cricket and he also gives us an option of having a third opener in the side,'' he explained.

Other names considered in the selection committee meeting included S Badrinath of Tamil Nadu and Delhi opener Aakash Chopra.

''We did discuss Badri and Aakash. Badri is young but inexperienced and he might play for India some day. Aakash's name also came up after he played well in the Duleep Trophy match,'' the chief selector revealed.

Both Vengsarkar and BCCI secretary Niranjan Shah, however, denied the committee received any instructions from BCCI President Sharad Pawar.

Flayed from all quarters after India's dismal show in South Africa with even the MPs batting for Ganguly's return, the selection committee had to shift their meeting from Mumbai to the capital where they met Mr Pawar before the meeting.

''It's the BCCI President's prerogative to meet any committee he wants and we discussed some general issues. There was no direction as such and the BCCI President never indulges in interference in selection matters,'' Mr Shah said.

''He did not give any instructions. We discussed the team's performance in the last three ODIs,'' Vengsarkar elaborated.

Vengsarkar also defended Irfan Pathan's selection even though the left-arm seamer remains largely off-colour.

''I think he bowled and batted well in the last match. After all he is our man for future and dropping him would have seriously dented his confidence,'' he argued.

On the exclusion of Suresh Raina and Mohammad Kaif, Vengsarkar said, ''They could not find a place but they are not outside the radar. They would play a number of ODIs before the World Cup and can prove themselves.'' He also confirmed that Dravid, out of the ODI series with a finger injury, would play in the first Test.

The former Test player also asserted that Team India badly needs a bowling coach, even though Chappell has not been very impressed with the idea.

''There is no doubt that we need a bowling coach and I have spoken to Mr Pawar in this regard and now it's up to the Board to decide,'' he said.

Asked about Ganguly's chances of returning to the ODI squad, Vengsarkar said, ''If he does well in South Africa, we will take it from there. And I'll be happy is he does well''.

The former captain rued that India doesn't have a bench strength and felt compared to the youngsters, the experienced players are doing reasonably better.

He also felt that getting just one warm-up match before the ODI series in South Africa resulted in the thrashing there.

''Just one warm-up match to get a hang of the pitch and conditions there was just not enough. You needed atleast two or three such matches for that,'' he said.

Test team: Rahul Dravid (captain), VVS Laxman (vice-captain), Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly, Wasim Jaffer, Gautam Gambhir, Virender Sehwag, Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Dinesh Kaarthik, Munaf Patel, Zaheer Khan, S Sreesanth, VRV Singh, Irfan Pathan, Anil Kumble, Harbhajan Singh.

UNI