Laxman omitted from one-day party

Laxman has a far superior Test average of 43.71

India have left leading batsman VVS Laxman out of their one-day squad to tour Bangladesh later this month.

Laxman averages 31 in 83 one day games, with six hundreds and 10 fifties, but has been below his best recently.

He will play in the two Tests but left hander Dinesh Mongia will replace him for the three-match one-day series.

Anil Kumble has opted out of the one-dayers, while all-rounder Joginder Sharma and keeper Mahendra Dhoni are new additions to the squad.

Gautam Dasgupta, joint secretary of the Indian board, explained that Laxman had not been omitted because of his recent dip in form at the NatWest Challenge and Champions Trophy.

"We have rested Laxman and Kumble in a bid to try some youngsters," he explained.

"Dinesh Karthik was also considered for the wicket-keeper's slot," Dasgupta added.

"But the selectors decided to give Dhoni a chance because he is a better batsman and can be of more use in the one-dayers."

India Test squad

India on Wednesday named two uncapped pace bowlers in their squad for the two-Test series.

Gagandeep Singh and Shib Shankar Paul were the new faces, while left-armer Ashish Nehra was allowed to rest an abdominal strain.

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India one-day squad: Sourav Ganguly (captain), Virender Sehwag, Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, Yuvraj Singh, Mohammad Kaif, Mahendra Dhoni, Harbhajan Singh, Irfan Pathan, Ajit Agarkar, Zaheer Khan, Murali Kartik, Dinesh Mongia, Sridharan Sriram, Joginder Sharma.