my sports center

Sourav Ganguly, Rahul Dravid and VVS Laxman, who made significant contributions in the current Test series against Australia, were today left out by the selectors in picking up the squad for the tri-series Down Under, also featuring Australia and Sri Lanka.
Left-hand batsman Suresh Raina and leg-spinner Piyush Chawla were recalled to the side that includes wicketkeeper-batsman Dinesh Kaarthick, who is already with the Test team in Australia. Left-arm spinner Murali Kartik, who played the last One-Day International series against Pakistan, was also left out.
Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) secretary Mr Niranjan Shah announced the 16-member team after a meeting of the selection committee for India’s one-off Twenty20 match against Australia on 1 February and the subsequent tri-series.
The omission of Ganguly came as a surprise as the elegant left-hander had been in very good nick in both the one-dayers and Tests.
Explaining reasons behind ignoring Ganguly and Dravid, Mr Shah said: “The emphasis was on fielding abilities and they wanted a young fielding side for the series. That’s why you see a lot of youngsters in the side.” The team, to be led by Mahendra Singh Dhoni, has Sachin Tendulkar as its most experienced batsman. Meanwhile, Yuvraj Singh, who struggled for runs in Australia and has injured his knee, was retained as vice-captain, which the selectors said has been done keeping the future in mind.
Virender Sehwag also retained his place in the 16-member squad for India’s lone Twenty20 match, followed by the tri-series starting on 3 February.
Manoj Tiwary, Yusuf Pathan and Munaf Patel will be on standby.

Meanwhile, Mr Shah dismissed reports about Yuvraj’s alleged attitude problem and said, “There has been no mention on it. It’s all media creation.” Yuvraj, however, has still not recovered from his knee injury and would not be available for the fourth and deciding Test at Adelaide starting 24 January.
The BCCI official also said that injured speedster Zaheer Khan might be sent to South Africa for treatment. Pacer S Sreesanth, recuperating from a shoulder injury, was named in the squad, along with Ishant Sharma. Harbhajan Singh will be India’s spin spearhead in the series. Asked whether it was the end of the road for Ganguly in one-dayers, Mr Shah said, “he is a great player and can come back.”
Ishant Sharma, perhaps not in the running prior to his stupendous spell against one of the world’s top batsmen, Australian captain Ricky Ponting.
Uttar Pradesh pacer Praveen Kumar’s selection was expected as he was in the one-dayers’ squad which played against Pakistan at home in November and took a timely eight for 68, though for a losing cause, against Delhi in the Ranji Trophy final here with three selectors ~ Mr Dilip Vengsarkar, Mr Sanjay Jagdale and Mr Bhupinder Singh ~ watching it.

Squad: MS Dhoni (captain), Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag, Yuvraj Singh (vice Captain), Harbhajan Singh, Robin Uthappa, Gautam Gambhir, Irfan Pathan, S Sreesanth, RP Singh, Ishant Sharma, Rohit Sharma, Suresh Raina, Dinesh Kaarthick, Piyush Chawla, Praveen Kumar.
Standbyes: Manoj Tiwary, Yusuf Pathan and Munaf Patel

Sourav Ganguly is the most successful captain in Indian cricket history but he was perhaps the most unfortunate too. Just a year ago, Ganguly was fighting hard to make a come back to the Indian national team after being out of the time for many months thanks to the all out effort by the then coach Greg Chappell.

So, all the fans of Ganguly were very happy yesterday when he scored the first double century of his career. His double century, helped India to put an imposing total against Pakistan in the first innings of Third Test.

The “City of Joy” went into raptures today, celebrating its hero Saurav Ganguly’s maiden double ton in the third Test against Pakistan in Bangalore, as the state government and the Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB) announced to felicitate the cricketer for the “remarkable feat”.
State Minister for Urban Development Mr Ashok Mukherjee said: “Sourav (Ganguly) has made West Bengal proud. We are planning to give him a reception once he returned, not only for scoring a double hundred but also for playing 100 Test matches, which he will play in Australia.”
CAB President Prasun Mukherjee said: “We are extremely proud of Ganguly’s remarkable achievement