ACC team for Afro-Asian Cup a hollow showcase of stars

Dhaka, May 11 (UNI) The Asian Cricket Council (ACC) today announced a 14-member Asian team for the Afro-Asian Cup to be held in India next month sans some of the big names, though Sachin Tendulkar and Virender Sehwag were among the five Indians in the list.

The other Indians in the list are Yuvraj Singh, Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Harbhajan Singh. Sri Lankan skipper Mahela Jayawardane will captain the side, that has no appointed deputy.

ACC Chief Executive Ashrafful Haq said that the four selectors-- A F M Farooque (Bangladesh), Chetan Chauhan ( India), Mohsin Khan (Pakistan) and Lalith Kaluperuma (Sri lanka)-- chose the team unanimously.

However, the stunning part was the inclusion of players like Harbhajan Singh, who has been dropped from the ODI side by the BCCI and sent back to play domestic cricket, while Bangladesh stars like Mashraffe Mohammed, who ranks in the top ten of the ICC cricket rankings for bowlers, and promising all rounder Saqibul Hasan have been omitted.

When asked about the non-inclusion of players like Rahul Dravid and Sourav Ganguly, Chauhan said, ''Dravid asked himself to be excused from the tournament because of the grinding schedule for the next few months and Ganguly was not considered looking at the age factor.'' While the Indian captain's show of solidarity for Asian cricket is commendable, it is strange that age always comes in between Ganguly and selection and not performance.

However, that logic did not work either as several of the promising rookies were denied a chance, while those like Sanath Jayasuriya and Chaminda Vaas are in the ranks and Shoaib Akhtar, who is out of the Pakistan team for all sorts of reasons, chosen.

Other notable absentee from the list was Mutthiah Muralitharan, who has been exempted for his county commitments Asked why only Mohammed Rafique was chosen from Bangladesh, Farooque's lame explanation was, ''They have time.'' And Haq summed it all, when he said, ''We had to take the biggest names as it was Asia against Africa.'' The ODIs take place in Bangalore on June 6 and in Channai on June 9 and 10. The total prize money fort the tournament is 100,000 dollars.

Team: Asia: M Jayawardane (Captain) , Sanath Jayasurya, Sachin Tendulkar, Mohammed Yousuf, Yuvraj Singh, Mahendra singh Dhoni, Harbhajan Singh, Chaminda Vaas, Shoaib Akhtar, Lasith Malinga, Mohammed Rafique, Mohammed Asif, Upul Tharanga.

Officials: Sultan Rana (Manager), Roger Binny (Coach), John Gloster (Physio) The ACC will also play a men's and women's Twenty20 game on June 5 in Bangalore with their African counterpart.

The team is as follows: (men): Shoaib Malik (Captain), Tamim Iqbal, Imran Nazir, Mohammed Ashrafful, T Dilshan, Shahid Afridi, Kamran Akhmal, Abdur razzak, Parvees Mahroof, Mashraffe Mortaza and Munaf Patel.

Coach: Roger Binny (women): Mithali Raj (captain, India), HASD Siriwardene (Vice-Captain, Sri Lanka), Sulakshana Naik (wk-India), Jaya Sharma (India), PRCS Kumarihami (Lanka), Bismah Mahroof (Pakistan), Jhulan Goswami (India), Rumeli Dhar (India), Priti Dimri (India), Urooj Mumtaz Khan (Pakistan), L E Kaushalya (Sri Lanka) Manager : Shamsha Hashmi (Pakistan) UNI