India announce probables squad for Champions Trophy

India have announced a 30-member probables squad for the Champions Trophy to be held in Pakistan in September.

The squad includes players on the fringe of national selection like S Badrinath and Manoj Tiwary and also those on the comeback trail like Mohammad Kaif and left-arm spinner Murali Kartik. Two members of the Under-19 World Cup-winning team - captain Virat Kohli and allrounder Ravindra Jadeja - get their first call-ups to the senior squad.

Several players who impressed during the Indian Premier League and in the last domestic season such as Rajasthan's fast bowler Pankaj Singh and Mumbai's allrounder Abhishek Nayar have been included. Another Mumbai player Ajinkya Rahane, who slammed a 142-ball 187 - the highest score by an Indian in a List A match - is also in the squad.

Experienced batsmen and former captains Sourav Ganguly and Rahul Dravid are among those who did not make the cut. Dravid has not been a part of the one-day setup since the home series against Australia last October while Ganguly's last ODI was against Pakistan in Gwalior in November. Fast bowler Munaf Patel was also omitted.

Squad: Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Yuvraj Singh, Sachin Tendulkar, Zaheer Khan, Rohit Sharma, Harbhajan Singh, Robin Uthappa, Suresh Raina, Piyush Chawla, RP Singh, Irfan Pathan, Ishant Sharma, Praveen Kumar, Manpreet Singh Gony, Pragyan Ojha, Parthiv Patel, Dinesh Karthik, S Badrinath, Mohammad Kaif, Manoj Tiwary, Abhishek Nayar, Pankaj Singh, Murali Kartik, Virat Kohli, Ravindra Jadeja, Ajinkya Rahane, Yusuf Pathan, S Sreesanth