Ganguly, Kumble, Laxman figure in probables list

Bangalore, aug 9 (UNI) Former Indian Captain Sourav Ganguly, ace leggie Anil Kumble and V V S Laxman made it to the list of 30 probables selected today for the ICC Champions Trophy to be held in four venues in the country during October-November.

Anncouncing the list after a two-hour meeting of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) Selection Committee here, Board Secretary Niranjan Shah said besides the players bound for the coming tri-series in Sri Lanka, 14 others were included in the list.

To a question, BCCI Selection Committee Chairman Kiran More said there was no pressure from any quarter for the inclusion of Ganguly's name in the list. ''Ganguly is a great player, he is a Grade 'A' player and it is the decision of the selectors to include him and nothing else,'' he maintained.

To another question, he said, ''I had never said that he (Ganguly) will not find a place. Many issues were discussed in the meeting and it was felt that Ganguly is still good enough to be included.'' More said the list of probables consisted of a combination of junior and senior players. Performance, be it in the tri-series or domestic or international matches at the junior level, would be the parameter for selection of the team for the Champions Trophy or the Mini World Cup. The team would be picked up before September seven, the last date for sending the final team list to the ICC.

He said the players selected for the tri-series in Sri Lanka commencing on August 14 were doing well in the Camp here and they would be leaving to the Island nation directly from the city tomorrow night. South Africa was the other team participating in the tri series, besides India and Sri Lanka.

On the non-inclusion of Murali Kartik and Lakshmipathy Balaji, who were asked by the Board to join in the 'Cricket Skill' camp here, More said that they were still under rehabilitation process and yet to recover fully from injury.

Except Ranjib Biswal (East), all other members of the Selection Committee including Sanjay Jagdale (Central), Bhupinder Singh (North) and V B Chandrasekhar (South) attended the meeting.

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