India's Virender Sehwag. - Reuters

NEW DELHI (Reuters):

INDIA LEFT out opening batsman Virender Sehwag yesterday for the Test tour of England starting next month and preceding one-dayers in Ireland and Scotland.

Sehwag has struggled to find form and failed to play a big innings during last month's one-day series in Bangladesh.

"Sehwag has a lot of cricket left to be played," chief selector Dilip Vengsarkar told a news conference. "If he does well, he will come back."

Off-spinner Harbhajan Singh failed to regain his place after being dropped for Bangladesh, having struggled in recent months to take wickets. Fellow spinner Ramesh Powar was chosen to partner leg-break bowler Anil Kumble.

Key performances

Vengsarkar made it clear that strong domestic performances would be key for Harbhajan as well as young left-arm paceman Irfan Pathan to return to the squad.

Dinesh Karthik, 22, will open in the Tests with Wasim Jaffer, Vengsarkar said, a reward for his strong return as a batsman since losing his place to fellow wicketkeeper and explosive batsman Mahendra Dhoni.

Uncapped Bengal seamer Ranadeb Bose, 28, was named in the 16-player squad for the three Tests during the July-September tour.

A 15-player one-day squad was also chosen to play three games against South Africa in Ireland starting later this month and one match against the hosts. They also play Pakistan in a charity one-dayer in Glasgow before travelling to England.

Test squad: Rahul Dravid (captain), Wasim Jaffer, Gautam Gambhir, Sachin Tendulkar, Vangipurappu Laxman, Mahendra Dhoni, Saurav Ganguly, Yuvraj Singh, Dinesh Karthik, Shanthakumaran Sreesanth, Zaheer Khan, Anil Kumble, Ramesh Powar, Rudra Pratap Singh, Ranadeb Bose, Ishant Sharma.

One-day squad: Dravid (captain), Gambhir, Robin Uthappa, Tendulkar, Ganguly, Yuvraj, Dhoni, Karthik, Sreesanth, Khan, Rudra Pratap Singh, Piyush Chawla, Powar, Ajit Agarkar, Rohit Sharma.