Uthappa replaces Gambhir in India squad; Venugopal to lead India 'A'

Margao, Apr 3 (UNI) Gautam Gambhir has made way for Karnataka opener Robin Uthappa to make his ODI debut in Team India for the remaining four matches against England and two one-dayers against Pakistan to be played in Abu Dhabi on April 18 and 19.

Asserting that Gambhir got his share of chances, Chairman of the Selection Committee, Kiran More said the Delhi opener could still work his way back in to the team.

''Gambhir has been given enough opportunities and we (selectors) thought it is better to give a chance to a new person,'' More said.

'' But that this does not mean it is curtains for him. He is a very good player and we will certainly keep him in mind for the future games,'' he added.

More also added that if India wins the fourth ODI at Kochi and with it the series, then they might think of resting some senior players.

On being asked why the same yardstick had not been applied to Virender Shewag, More said Sehwag's record was far more formidable.

''His record speaks for itself and there is nothing more I can add about a player who has made double hundreds and triple hundreds,'' he pointed out.

More said the same applied for Kaif.

''He has won matches for India in the past and when you have a big season like this some players are bound to have a lean patch as everybody cannot click,'' he said.

More also announced a 14-member India 'A' squad, to be led by Venugopal Rao, which will take part in a six-nation Euro Asia Cup at Abu Dhabi from April 21 to May 2. The other five teams are Pakistan, UAE, Holland, Ireland and Sri Lanka.

The teams: India: Rahul Dravid (captain), Virender Sehwag, Robin Uthappa, Yuvraj Singh, Mohammad Kaif, Suresh Raina, Venugopal Rao, Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Irfan Pathan, Ajit Agarkar, Ramesh Powar, Sreesanth, R P Singh, Harbhajan Singh, Munaf Patel.

India 'A' : Venugopal Rao (captain), Robin Uthappa, Shikar Dhawan, S Vidyut, S Badrinath, S Jhunjhunwala, Rohit Sharma, Dinesh Karthick, Ravindra Jadeja, S S Paul, Reetinder Singh Sodhi, VRV Singh, R P Singh, Piyush Chawla.

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