Saurav Ganguly Back In Indian Team

Ten months after Sourav Ganguly was unceremoniously dropped from the national side, the former India captain was on Thursday included in the Test squad for South Africa.

Chairman of Selectors Dilip Vengsarkar said the Indian batting had failed in the one-dayers in South Africa and that is why "experienced players have been brought back".

V V S Laxman, who was rushed to South Africa to replace an injured Rahul Dravid, was also named as vice captain of the Indian test team.

Other players who have found a place in the Test squad include Delhi opener Gautam Gambhir and Punjab pacer V R V Singh.

Buddha smiles

Ganguly last played for India against Pakistan earlier this year. Reacting to his inclusion, the Bengal Tiger said, "I hope to do my best and just go out and play."

"We have played well on bouncy wickets and have been successful. We did well in Australia and the same group of players are back," he added.

Pointing out that he had played well for the past 10 years, Ganguly maintained he would take one series at a time and was happy that he had got his place back in the team.

Elsewhere, in Kolkata, West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadev Bhattacharjee expressed happiness at Ganguly's return and said the move should have taken place earlier.

"That's great. It's a very good news. But I feel he should have been taken back earlier," said Bhattacharjee, an ardent fan of Ganguly.

The first Test of the three-match series starts on December 15.

The team: Sourav Ganguly, Rahul Dravid, V V S Laxman, Wasim Jaffer, Gautam Gambhir, Virender Sehwag, M S Dhoni, Dinesh Karthick, Sachin Tendulkar, Irfan Pathan, Anil Kumble, Harbhajan Singh, Munaf Patel, Zaheer Khan, S Sreesanth.
(With PTI inputs)