By Qaiser Mohammad Ali, IANS
Bangalore : Opening batsman Virender Sehwag was picked to replace an injured Gautam Gambhir while Rajasthan fast bowler Pankaj Singh was the lone surprise in the 16-member Indian Test squad for this month’s Australian tour.
Announcing the squad Wednesday after the third India-Pakistan Test here, board secretary Niranjan Shah said that Gambhir was ruled out for three weeks with a “sore shoulder”. He did not say when the left-handed Delhi opener injured his shoulder, but sources said it happened during the drawn Test here at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium.
“Gambhir has a sore shoulder and he has been advised three weeks’ rest,” Shah told reporters.
Sehwag, who is struggling for form, was not even in the 24 probables announced last week. He probably got the nod on the basis of his past track record Australia. He has scored 846 runs at 49.76 with two centuries, including a 195 in the last series 2005.
The three injured players who missed the drawn third Test here – pacers Zaheer Khan, Rudra Pratap Singh and Sachin Tendulkar – were all picked for the four-match Test series starting in Melbourne on Boxing Day (Dec 26). Pacer Sreesanth has already been ruled out for the first two Tests.
Munaf Patel, the other injured pacer who missed the third Test, was “not match fit” and he has been advised to play domestic tournaments.
The tall, well-built Pankaj, who has impressed all in the ongoing domestic season, was the lone surprise. The 22-year-old right-arm bowler has played for India ‘A’ and India under-19 teams. He toured Zimbabwe and Kenya with India ‘A’ and recently played against South Africa ‘A’ at home.
Pankaj, who was born in Sultanpur, Uttar Pradesh, has bagged 73 wickets in 23 first-class matches.
The squad: Anil Kumble (captain), Mahendra Singh Dhoni (vice-captain/wicketkeeper), Wasim Jaffer, Virender Sehwag, Dinesh Karthik (wicketkeeper), Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly, V.V.S. Laxman, Yuvraj Singh, Harbhajan Singh, Zaheer Khan, Rudra Pratap Singh, Irfan Pathan, Ishant Sharma and Pankaj Singh.