The national selectors sprung a major surprise by dropping former captain Rahul Dravid and recalling Virender Sehwag in the 15-member Indian ODI squad for the first two matches of the upcoming cricket series against arch-rivals Pakistan.The 34-year-old Dravid, who struggled for runs right through the recent ODI series against Australia, was left out of the team which has Uttar Pradesh paceman Praveen Kumar as the lone new face.Left-handed opener Gautam Gambhir, who missed the last four matches in the series against Australia because of an injury, expectedly made a comeback in place of S Badrinath in the team announced by BCCI Secretary Niranjan Shah after a meeting of the selection committee.Apart from Dravid's exclusion, Sehwag's recall was also a surprise as the Delhi batsman has not scored too many runs to justify his place in the team.Chief Selector Dilip Vengsarkar said Dravid was being given a break and should be back in the team soon."We haven't spoken to him yet. We wanted to give him a break for a while. He is a great player and he will be back soon," Vengsarkar said after the meeting which lasted close to two hours.Vengsarkar also said the selection committee had consulted captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni over telephone before finalising the squad for the first two matches to be held in Guwahati (Nov 5) and Mohali (Nov 8)."We have consulted Mahendra Singh Dhoni over phone," Vengsarkar said adding that ‘those who have not been picked definitely have a chance to make a comeback’.On Sehwag, Vengsarkar said he had performed well in the current Challenger series and in the past against Pakistan. "Sehwag has played a fine innings today and he has also performed well in the past. He is an experienced player," Vengsarkar said referring to Sehwag's 57-ball 75 in the third match of the NKP Salve Challenger Trophy.The chairman of selectors said pacer Praveen Kumar, who picked a five-wicket haul on Friday, gave option to the team. "Praveen has also done well for India A team and he give the team options," he said.Vengsarkar said, ‘Badrinath's name was discussed’ but they could pick only 15 fine players."Badrinath is a fine player but we could pick only 15 fine players. We have picked a winning team. There is a role for everyone who does well," he said.Vengsarkar said the selectors did not discuss any name for Test captaincy in Saturday's meeting. "We will discuss that in Mohali," he said.Shah said Lalchand Rajput would continue to be the interim cricket manager of the team during the series against Pakistan.
