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Kambli, Kumble axed; Srinath rested

India's cricket selectors dropped Vinod Kambli and Anil Kumble, and rested Javagal Srinath, from the Indian team which will tour Toronto next month for a three-match one-day series against the West Indies, from September 11 to 14.

Sachin Tendulkar has been retained captain of the team, thus setting aside the rumours about his poor fitness.

B B Das was appointed manager.

Addressing a press briefing after the selection committee meeting at the Mumbai Cricket Association, Jaywant Lele, secretary of the Board of Control for Cricket in India, announced that Hrishikesh Kanitkar of Maharashtra and Sunil Joshi of Karnataka were included in place of Kambli and Kumble respectively.

Chaiman of selectors Ajit Wadekar said Srinath expressed the need to be rested for the Toronto series in order to get 100 per cent fit for the forthcoming series against New Zealand, Australia and South Africa.

Wadekar added: ''However we felt if he is rested for the Singapore series also, he will get one full month of rest to get back to peak fitness.''

Wadekar however did not say whether Srinath had any fitness problem.

The squad will comprise only 14 members instead of 15 who will do duty at the Singapore tournament.

Mohammad Azharuddin, Nayan Mongia and Ajit Agarkar were not considered since they are still unfit. While Azharuddin and Mongia have started practicing, they will still require about eight to ten days to regain full fitness, Lele disclosed.

Ajit Agarkar has notified the board that he will let them know about his fitness by September 15, he further informed. ''The doctors have advised Azharuddin not to throw from 30 yards, while Mongia's finger is still tender. If we risk him now the gap between the fingers might widen,'' Lele said.

One of the reasons for dropping Kumble, Wadekar said, was because he looked out of rhythm. "Since the pitches in Toronto are more responsive to seamers, therefore we decided to drop Kumble. However, knowing what a great bowler he is, he will get back his rhythm pretty fast," he hastened to add.

When asked why Sunil Joshi, who is also a spinner, was selected, Wadekar said: "We wanted to keep a balance in the team. There are three seamers in V. Prasad, Debashish Mohanty and Laxmi Ratan Shukla, while Robin Singh, Saurav Ganguly and even Ajay Jadeja can chip in.
''With Sunil Joshi and Nikhil Chopra, we also have variety in the spin bowling department, with one a left armer and another a right hand off-spinner.''

Wadekar went on to add that Kambli looked unfit during the Aiwa Cup in Sri Lanka. "His performance was also not up to the mark, therefore we decided to replace him. Kanitkar is an experienced player and we wanted such a player to replace Kambli. In addition, Kanitkar has got runs in the domestic circuit and also was a success against the West Indies ''A'' team which toured India last season," he said.

On the team's performance in Sri Lanka, Wadekar said: "We had the talent, but did not live up to the expectations. We did not do justice to our potential.''

He felt the players did not make proper use of whatever gap they had after the World Cup. "Due to this fact they looked slow in the field."

Lele said a physical trainer will be appointed during the BCCI's annual general body meeting to be held in Jaipur on September 21 and 22.

The team:
Sachin Tendulkar (captain), Ajay Jadeja (vice-captain), Saurav Ganguly, Rahul Dravid, Sadagoppan Ramesh, Amay Khurasia, Robin Singh, Nikhil Chopra, Venkatesh Prasad, Debashish Mohanty, Laxmi Ratan Shukla, M.S.K. Prasad (wicket-keeper), Hrishikesh Kanitkar, Sunil Joshi.

UNI