Ganguly, Pathan return to Test squad

Skipper Sourav Ganguly [ Images ] and paceman Irfan Pathan [ Images ], both of whom missed the last two Tests against Australia [ Images ] due to injuries, were named in the 14-member squad for the two-Test cricket series against South Africa [ Images ], beginning on November 20.

Ganguly had pulled out of the third Test against Australia in Nagpur due to an upper thigh strain while Pathan had suffered a side strain during the second Test at Chennai.

Both have now recovered from their injuries and turned out for the Platinum Jubilee one-day match against Pakistan at
the Eden Gardens in Kolkata [ Images ] on Saturday.

Dheeraj Jadhav and S S Paul, who were named in the 15-member squad for the final Test against Australia in Mumbai [ Images ]
but were not part of the playing eleven, were dropped, the Board of Control for Cricket in India [ Images ] announced in Kolkata on Thursday.

The selectors also retained opener Gautam Gambhir [ Images ] and wicketkeeper Dinesh Karthik [ Images ], who had replaced Yuvraj Singh [ Images ] and Parthiv Patel [ Images ] respectively for the fourth Test.

Murali Kartik [ Images ] is also retained to have the option of going into the match with three specialist spinners.

Squad: Sourav Ganguly (captain), Gautam Gambhir, Virender Sehwag [ Images ], Rahul Dravid [ Images ], V V S Laxman [ Images ], Sachin Tendulkar [ Images ], Mohammad Kaif, Dinesh Karthik, Anil Kumble [ Images ], Harbhajan Singh [ Images ], Murali Kartik, Zaheer Khan [ Images ], Irfan Pathan, Ashish Nehra [ Images ].