Thaindian News

Mumbai/Kolkata, Jan 20 (ANI): Fans reacted violently and took to the streets to protest against the selection committees decision to drop Sourav Ganguly from 16-member ODI squad for the tri-nation CB Series to be played in Australia from February 3.

“Sharad Pawar should step down! Ganguly should be taken back into the team. We are going to protest against all this, we will take to the streets, we shall call for a shutdown,” said Ratan Haldar, a protestor.

Bablu Haldar, another fan, who was a part of the protest said: “Ganguly has not been treated well by the selectors. He has been wrongly kept out of the team.

Meanwhile, BCCI secretary Niranjan Shah said that the selectors wanted a young side for the ODI series.

Talking about Ganguly, Shah said that he is a good player and should look forward to the other forthcoming series.

“I have nothing to say. He is a good player, great player. It is up to the selection committee. There are many matches still coming after this series,” said Shah.

Rahul Dravid and VVS Laxman have also been not recalled for the tournament, which also features Australia and Sri Lanka.

Gautam Gambhir, who has cracked three centuries in the Ranji Trophy has been included in the team, as have Suresh Raina, Praveen Kumar and Dinesh Karthik.

Suresh Raina, who last played an ODI in January 2007, and Praveen Kumar, the allrounder who played an ODI last season, benefited from good performances in Uttar Pradesh’s Ranji Trophy season to make the squad.

Piyush Chawla, who was impressive during last year’s tour of England, takes the second spinner’s spot partnering Harbhajan Singh.

Squad: Mahendra Singh Dhoni (captain), Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag,
Yuvraj Singh, Harbhajan Singh, Robin Uthappa, Gautam Gambhir, Irfan Pathan,
Shanthakumaran Sreesanth, Rudra Pratap Singh, Ishant Sharma, Rohit Sharma,
Suresh Raina, Dinesh Karthik, Piyush Chawla and Pravin Kumar. (ANI)