Dravid to lead India in Test series against Sri Lanka

     Chennai: Rahul Dravid has been named as the captain of the Indian team for the upcoming Test series against Sri Lanka at home. "Dravid will lead India in the Test series against Lanka," SK Nair, Seceretary, Board of Control for Cricket in India said. Dravid will lead the team in three Test matches beginning December 2. The rest of team for the series will be selected on November 14. The first Test match will be played from December 2-6 in Chennai. Second from December 10-14 in New Delhi, and the third one from December 18 to 22 in Kanpur.

Ganguly's fans protest his exclusion from team

     Kolkata: Angered over the exclusion of former Indian skipper Saurav Ganguly from the national team, Ganguly's die-hard fans decided on Tuesday to tear off their tickets for the fourth one-day to be held in Kolkata. Ganguly, who was dropped from the one-day team, was today replaced as the captain of the Test team also by Rahul Dravid. There have been widespread protests against Ganguly's ouster with fans alleging it as a ploy by coach Chappell to end Bengal Tiger's reign. "Though I have bought the tickets for the match but I will watch it only if Dada (Saurav Ganguly) plays the match, otherwise I will tear the tickets off," said Abhijeet Das, a cricket fan. Eden Gardens is considered one of the game's showpiece stadiums which is usually packed to its 100,000 capacity. Sudipto Banerjee, another Ganguly fan, said the numbers would be much less this time. "Generally there are 80,000 to100,000 people who come to watch the match here but this time there is less enthusiasm among people as dada (Saurav Ganguly) is not playing," Banerjee said.

     Meanwhile, Ganguly said that he was hopeful of retaining his place when the selectors meet on Wednesday to pick the squad for the first test. The team for the Test series against Sri Lanka, beginning on December two, would be announced on Wednesday. Ganguly, 33, is India's most successful test captain with 21 victories. He is credited with adding steel to the side after taking over amid the cricket match-fixing scandal which rocked the game in 2000. However, Ganguly's five-year reign in the job was halted today with the appointment of Dravid as skipper of India for next month's home test series against Sri Lanka. Dravid's appointment had been a formality after leading India to a 6-1 home one-day series victory over Sri Lanka this month in his maiden series as captain. He took over the one-day side after Ganguly was sacked last month following a prolonged batting slump and a row with coach Greg Chappell.

Chennai one-dayer washed out

     Meanwhile, The third one-day international cricket match of the ongoing Pepsi Cup between India and South Africa was abandoned without a ball being bowled due to rain here today. The Umpires decided to call off the match at around 3 p.m. after inspecting the ground of the M A Chidambaram Stadium. Heavy rains have been lashing the city since Sunday night, and abandonment of the match was expected as the ground had taken heavy pounding, and to add to the woe, the sun did not appear throughout the day. The match will go in the record book as a 'no result' since there is provision of reserve day in the series. The fourth match will be played on November 25 in Kolkata, Mumbai will host the final match on November 28.