India drop Dravid for one-dayers

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Posted: 18 years ago

India drop Dravid for one-dayers

Dravid has been omitted for only the second time in his one-day career

India have left out former captain Rahul Dravid for the first two one-day games against Pakistan next month. The 34-year-old was rested for the final game against Australia recently after making 80 runs in nine innings. "We wanted to give him a break," chief selector Dilip Vengsarkar said. "He is a great player. He will be back soon." Opener Dinesh Karthik was also omitted, with Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir recalled, and paceman Praveen Kumar the only newcomer in a 15-man squad. Sehwag, who has slipped down the Test and ODI pecking order after his own slump - his last appearance for India other than in Twenty20 games was in June - will have a chance to re-establish himself. But the decision to leave out Dravid for only the second time in his one-day career will cause the biggest stir. His dismal sequence of scores began at the end of the limited-overs series in England and, after he sat out the World Twenty20, continued in the five games he featured in against the Aussies.

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He surprisingly stepped down as skipper in September after leading the team to a Test series triumph against England, admitting the pressures were affecting his batting. Vengsarkar appeared to rule him out of the remaining three games, barring a crisis. "If they need him, he'll be there for the next few games," he added. "Fitness and fielding are very important. We have given him a break." The first of five one-day internationals takes place in Guwahati on 5 November, with three Tests to follow. India squad: Dhoni (capt, wkt), Yuvraj Singh, Ganguly, Tendulkar, Gambhir, Sehwag, Uthappa, Irfan Pathan, RP Singh, Rohit Sharma, Kartik, Zaheer Khan, Santh, Harbhajan Singh, Kumar.