Kaif back and Powar in, but no place for Gavaskar

Mohammad Kaif has been recalled by the Indian selectors for the five-match one-day series in Pakistan, which starts on March 13. Ramesh Powar, the Mumbai offspinner, was called up for the first time, but surprisingly there was no place for Rohan Gavaskar, who made a reasonable start to his one-day career in the recent VB Series in Australia.

After a four-hour meeting in Mumbai, the selectors eventually emerged to reveal the names of the 15-man party. The team for the Tests will be uinveiled on March 22.

Powar, 25, replaces Anil Kumble, who has not fully recovered from a shoulder injury sustained in Australia. Ajit Agarkar, too, misses out after his shin injury was slow responding to treatment. But there is a return for Zaheer Khan, who missed the latter part of the Australian tour. Kulamani Parida and Sarandeep Singh were reportedly also considered for the spare spinner's spot, but Powar's superior batting - he has four first-class centuries under his belt - swung the issue.

India one-day squad
Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag, VVS Laxman, Sourav Ganguly (capt), Rahul Dravid (vice-capt), Yuvraj Singh, Mohammad Kaif, Hemang Badani, Parthiv Patel (wk), Ramesh Powar, Irfan Pathan, Murali Kartik, L Balaji, Zaheer Khan, Ashish Nehra.