Veteran leg-spinner Anil Kumble has not been picked in the Indian squad for next month's Champions Trophy because of doubts over his fitness, it was announced here on Sunday.
"According to the report from physio John Gloster, Kumble was likely to be fit for the tournament but we were not sure and hence decided not to select him," chief selector Kiran More told reporters.
Kumble's inclusion in the 14-man squad was anticipated after reports that he was expected to recover in time from tendinitis in his bowling shoulder.
But the selectors said they also did not want to risk playing him for fear of aggravating the injury.
"We have other series coming up and are looking at his long-term rehabilitation," More said after a meeting in which the squad for a preceding three-nation tournament in Malaysia was also decided.
Kumble, 35, who has taken 329 wickets in 264 one-day internationals, last turned out for India in a one-dayer during a tri-series in Sri Lanka in August 2005.
There were no other major surprises with only paceman Shantakumaran Sreesanth being dropped from the squad that went to Sri Lanka in what turned out to be a rain-disrupted series last month.
All 15 players who toured Sri Lanka were retained for the Malaysia event featuring Australia and the West Indies.
"Sreesanth definitely figures in our scheme of things but we need to give pacemen like Rudra Pratap Singh enough chances as he has been looking good recently," said More.
"There are a number of other players waiting in the sidelines and we will also try to give them chances in the near future," More said.
Former skipper Sourav Ganguly, who had been picked in the preliminary list of 30 for the Champions Trophy, once again found himself out of favour.
The Champions Trophy will start with the qualifiers on October 7 and will be played at four centres - Mumbai, Mohali, Jaipur and Ahmedabad.
India, who have been placed in group A along with world champions Australia, England and a qualifer, take on England in their first match at Jaipur on October 15.
Group B comprises of Pakistan, South Africa, New Zealand and the other qualifier from the qualifying league in which the West Indies, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Zimbabwe will fight it out.
SQUAD FOR CHAMPIONS TROPHY: Rahul Dravid (capt), Virender Sehwag, Sachin Tendulkar, Yuvraj Singh, Mohammad Kaif, Dinesh Mongia, Suresh Raina, Mahendra Dhoni, Ramesh Powar, Harbhajan Singh, Irfan Pathan, Ajit Agarkar, Rudra Pratap Singh, Munaf Patel.
SQUAD FOR MALAYSIA TRI-SERIES: Rahul Dravid (capt), Virender Sehwag, Sachin Tendulkar, Yuvraj Singh, Mohammad Kaif, Dinesh Mongia, Suresh Raina, Mahendra Dhoni, Ramesh Powar, Harbhajan Singh, Irfan Pathan, Ajit Agarkar, Rudra Pratap Singh, Munaf Patel, Shanthakumaran Sreesanth.
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