The Indian selectors pulled off a surprise by naming a new wicketkeeper in a 16-man squad for the Test series against England starting next month. One notable omission from both the one-day and Test squads was that of Javagal Srinath, who retired from Tests to concentrate on one-dayers, which he will now have to watch on television. Former India under-19 wicketkeeper/captain Parthiv Patel found a place in the Test team along with regular wicketkeeper - and also a former India under-19 wicketkeeper/captain - Ajay Ratra, but the selectors did not have any other surprises in store.

"The selectors feel that the boys are doing well and that's why they have not made many changes," Indian board secretary Niranjan Shah told reporters.

Ratra is also in the 15-man one-day team for the preceding NatWest Series from June 27 to July 13, in which Sri Lanka are the third team. The Test series starts on July 25 at Lord's.

Patel, a 17-year-old who was a member of the India A side in the recent tour of Sri Lanka, was preferred to Deep Dasgupta, who also missed out on the third opener's slot, which went to Sanjay Bangar.

The Indian captain exuded confidence in the teams. "I am satisfied with the teams and hope Parthiv Patel will emerge as one of the best wicketkeepers," Sourav Ganguly said.

Veteran seamer Javagal Srinath was not considered for the Tests following his retirement announcement earlier this week, and was not included in the one-day squad as the selectors felt that the younger pacers in the team were doing a good job.

"The selectors felt that these boys are doing quite well at the moment and did not want to disturb the combination," Shah said.

Legspnner Anil Kumble came back for both squads after a jaw injury sustained in the West Indies. The selectors settled for a pace attack of Zaheer Khan, Ashish Nehra, Tinu Yohannan and Ajit Agarkar for both teams, with medium-pace allrounder Sanjay Bangar lending balance for the Tests.

The Test opening pair of SS Das and Wasim Jaffer has been persisted with, but spinners Murali Kartik and Sarandeep Singh have no place in either team.

The selection committee meeting was originally scheduled to be held in Bombay, but Dalmiya shifted it to his home city to keep an eye on the selections. He had earlier scuttled a move by six top players, including vice captain Rahul Dravid, to shoot commercials in South Africa during the short break between the West Indies and England tours.

The players were apparently told they would not be considered for the one-day tournament in England, if they went to South Africa. "The players have a right to shoot for commercials but they were told to reconsider their decision as we are in the middle of two long tours. The players understood our point," Dalmiya said.

Kumble, Srinath, Ratra, Sehwag and Harbhajan were the others set to leave for South Africa.

Test squad
Sourav Ganguly (capt), Rahul Dravid, SS Das, Wasim Jaffer, Sachin Tendulkar, VVS Laxman, Virender Sehwag, Harbhajan Singh, Anil Kumble, Zaheer Khan, Ashish Nehra, Ajit Agarkar, Tinu Yohannan, Ajay Ratra (wk), Sanjay Bangar, Parthiv Patel (wk).

One-day Squad
Sourav Ganguly (capt), Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, Virender Sehwag, VVS Laxman, Dinesh Mongia, Yuvraj Singh, Mohammad Kaif, Ajay Ratra (wk), Anil Kumble, Harbhajan Singh, Zaheer Khan, Ashish Nehra, Ajit Agarkar, Tinu Yohannan.

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