Related Link : Challenger Trophy 2007/08
Left Arm Spinner Murali Kartik has been excluded out of the Challenger Trophy to accommodate teenage leg spinner Piyush Chawla. According to the Selectors, Murali Kartik has been given a rest while Piyush Chawla gets an opportunity to get back into the groove after recovering from an ankle injury. Kartik was originally a part of the India Green side that is led by Parthiv Patel.
By excluding Murali Kartik, the Selectors might have concluded that they were happy with the way he bowled in the series against the Aussies. Murali Kartik took six wickets in the last ODI at Mumbai along with two other good performances against the Aussies. The Selectors have rested several key players for the 4-day long Challenger Trophy that is to be played at Ahmedabad. It makes sense from the Selectors’ point of view as India would be engaged in a 5-match series against arch rivals Pakistan from the 5th of November onwards.
India Blue: Virender Sehwag (Delhi, Captain), Ajinkya Rahane (Mumbai), Dinesh Karthik (Tamil Nadu, Wicket Keeper), Suresh Raina (UP), Neeraj Patel (Gujarat), Arjun Yadav (Hyderabad), Joginder Sharma (Haryana), Ramesh Powar (Mumbai), Amit Mishra (Haryana), Yo Mahesh (Tamil Nadu), Ranadeb Bose (Bengal), Swapnil Asnodkar (Goa), Rakesh Dhruv (Saurashtra), Saurav Bandekar (Goa) Coach : Praveen Amre
India Green: Parthiv Patel (Gujarat, Captain & Wicket Kepeper), Cheteshwar Pujara (Saurashtra), Rohit Sharma (Mumbai), Piyush Chawla (UP), Manoj Tiwary (Bengal), Yusuf Pathan (Baroda), Abhishek Nayar (Mumbai), Niranjan Behra (Orissa), Iqbal Abdullah (Mumbai), Pankaj Singh (Rajasthan), Munaf Patel (Mah), Gagandeep Singh (Punjab), Anirudh Srikkanth (Tamil Nadu), Satyajit Satbhai (Maharashtra) Coach : Venkatesh Prasad
India Red: Mohammad Kaif (UP, Captain), Karan Goel (Punjab), Gautam Gambhir (Delhi), Subramaniam Badrinath (Tamil Nadu), Virat Kohli (Delhi), Ravneet Ricky (Punjab), Praveen Kumar (UP), Mahesh Rawat (Haryana, Wicket Keeper), Pragyan Ojha (Hyderabad), Siddarth Trivedi (Gujarat), Ishant Sharma (Delhi), Pinal Shah (Baroda), Srikant Munde (Maharashtra), Paresh Patel (Orissa) Coach : Lalchand Rajput
Schedule:
- October 25: India Red Vs India Blue
- October 26: India Green Vs India Red
- October 27: India Green Vs India Blue
- October 28: Final