Dahiya, Sarandeep in team for Zimbabwe Test

Two new faces figure in the 14-member Indian cricket team which will take on Zimbabwe in the first Test of the two-Test series, on November 18. They are Vijay Dahiya of Delhi and Sarandeep Singh of Punjab.

The selectors, who met in Delhi on Thursday, decided to drop wicketkeeper Saba Karim and Venkatesh Prasad from the team which did duty against Bangladesh in the one-off Test which India won on Monday.

While the 31-year-old Prasad, who has taken 85 wickets in 29 Tests, did not play in the Test, Karim, who was included in the side at the behest of skipper Sourav Gangully, did not perform up to expectations.

Newly-appointed coach John Wright will officially take over the team from this series.

The first Test will be held in Delhi from November 18-22 while the second will be at Nagpur from November 25-29.

The team :

1.Sourav Ganguly (captain)
2.S Ramesh
3.Shiv Sundar Das
4.Rahul Dravid
5.Sachin Tendulkar
6.Vijay Dahiya (wicket-keeper)
7.Sunil Joshi
8.Ajit Agarkar
9.Murali Kartik
10.Javagal Srinath
11.Zaheer Khan
12.Sarandeep Singh
13.VVS Laxman
14.Yuvraj Singh
Coach:John Wright.

Mail Cricket Editor