Ganguly will play against Tamil Nadu

Sourav Ganguly has said that he is available to play for Bengal in their Ranji Trophy match against Tamil Nadu on January 3, after citing personal reasons for missing the match against Gujarat. Anil Kumble will play for Karnataka and while Virender Sehwag will play for Delhi, Gautam Gambhir was denied permission for the same.

Ganguly made his decision after receiving instructions from the BCCI to play in the sixth-round match before departing for Pakistan. Parthiv Patel will also play for Gujarat against Mumbai. "Sourav informed us of the directive he received and confirmed that he will play in the January 3 match," Saradindu Pal, the Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB) secretary, told Indian Express. "We have decided to make Sourav the captain of the Bengal team for that match. The team will be picked on December 30.''

Niranjan Shah, the BCCI secretary, said that the decision was approved by Sharad Pawar, the BCCI president, and had the approval of Rahul Dravid, Greg Chappell and Kiran More, the chairman of selectors. ``We have taken this decision as we thought that all players chosen for the tour will not be needed to play the opening tour three-day warm-up game on January 7," said Shah. "We also wanted to give importance to domestic cricket." More was upset that Ganguly chose not to play against Gujarat in the fifth round of the Ranji Trophy and wanted an explanation from him.

India will leave for Pakistan on January 5 and will play a practice match in Lahore on January 7. The first Test begins on January 13. Ganguly, Kumble, Sehwag and Patel will join the team on January 7 after the completion of their domestic games.