ASIA CUP CRICKET - ZIMBABWE TOUR

Raina to lead Team India

Kohli Vice-Captain As Top Players Are Given Break For Tour OF Zimbabwe

Chennai: The top Indian players haven't got much time to rest over the past few months. And post July, it won't get any easier for them with back-to-back series, starting with the Asia Cup.

         So, the BCCI has gone for the wise option of resting their top players for the Zimbabwe tri-series starting from May 28, also featuring Sri Lanka.With Dhone, Yuvraj Singh, Harbhajan Singh, Ashis Nehra, Sachin Tendulkar and Gautam Gambhir not playing, Suresh Raina has been made the Indian skipper. Raina had led India 'A' earlier and looked comfortable at the Chennai Super Kings box seat when Dhoni missed a week's actionof IPL.

         Most of the players who have come close to doing well in the IPL have made the cut either in India team for the Zimbabwe tour or the 'A'; series in England, barring Robin Uthappa.

        Uthappa was brilliant in some of the matches for Royal Challengers Bangalore as they went on to clinch a Champions League berth, but the selectors, surprisingly, didn't think it good enough to keep him among the elite on Indian cricket.

         However, there were reports later that Uthappa had suffered an injury that ruled him out. Another consistent performer in the IPL not to have made the cut inboth the sides was Tamil Nadu's S. Badrinath, Skipper Dhoni had praised his efforts time and again as CSK went on to win the tournament, but Krishnamachari Srikanth & Co. Who met at the cooler climes of Kodaikanal, probably felt that the Tamil Nadu player is not a future India material in the limited-overs version of the game.

            The likes of S. Sreesanth, Irfan Pathan and RP Singh have also been ignored while Pankaj Singh, who only played two matches in the IPL. Meanwhile, in the India 'A' team that was announced for the England, Bipul Sharma, a former ICL player, made the cut. Bipul is the first to have palyed in the rebel league who has got an India call-up.