Sehwag, Kartik in ODI squad

Delhi batsman Virendra Sehwag and Railways spinner Murali Kartik are among five new players named in India's one-day team for the five-match one-day series against the West Indies, starting on May 25.

Middle-order batsmen Mohammad Kaif, Yuvraj Singh and pacer Ajit Agarkar are the other three players selected in the squad of 15.

Selection committee convener and Board of Control for Cricket in India secretary Niranjan Shah told reporters in Mumbai, after the selection committee meeting on Monday evening, that pace bowler Javagal Srinath has been rested. He said Wasim Jaffer, Sanjay Bangar, Shiv Sunder Das, Deep Dasgupta and Sarandeep Singh, who are all playing in the ongoing Test series, will return after the fifth and final Test.

Kartik, now touring Sri Lanka with the India 'A' team will fly to the Caribbeans from there while off-spinner Sarandeep Singh will replace him in the 'A' team.

Sehwag had suffered a shoulder injury while fielding on day four in the second Test against Zimbabwe and failed to recover in time for the Test series against the West Indies. He was declared fit by Board of Control for Cricket in India-appointed physio Arjun Singh Rana last week after being subjected to a series of fitness tests in Bangalore.

Shah informed that the BCCI has nominated legendary off-spinner E A S Prasanna as supplementary Match Referee to the ICC.

He also said umpires A V Jayaprakash of Karnataka and K Hariharan of Delhi have been nominated to the ICC umpires' panel.

The team:
Sourav Ganguly (captain)
Rahul Dravid (vice-captain)
Sachin Tendulkar
Virendra Sehwag
V V S Laxman
Dinesh Mongia
Mohammad Kaif
Yuvraj Singh
Ajay Ratra
Zaheer Khan
Ajit Agarkar
Murali Kartik
Harbhajan Singh
Ashish Nehra
Tinu Yohanan.

Mail Cricket Editor