Indian team leaves for South Africa

HIGH HOPES: Indian captain M.S. Dhoni and his team will have the hopes of a billion riding on their shoulders as they prepare to battle in the ICC Champions Trophy. File Photo: K.R. Deepak

High on confidence after their the tri-nation Compaq Cup triumph in Sri Lanka, the Indian cricket team on Friday left to participate in the ICC Champions Trophy to be held in South Africa from September 22.

The team left by the Dubai-bound flight from the Chhatrapati Shivaji International airport here and from Dubai they will be taking a connecting flight to Johannesburg.

The eight-nation tournament is scheduled to take place from September 22 to October 5.

India were the joint winners along with hosts Sri Lanka in the ICC Champions Trophy held in 2002.

The team will play a warm-up match against New Zealand on Septeber 20. Placed in Group A along with Australia, Pakistan and the West Indies, Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s men will open their league engagements on September 26 against Pakistan.

The Squad:

Sachin Tendulkar, Gautam Gambhir, Rahul Dravid, Yuvraj Singh, Mahendra Singh Dhoni (Captain), Suresh Raina, Abhishek Nayar, Yusuf Pathan, Harbhajan Singh, Praveen Kumar, Ashish Nehra, R.P.Singh, Ishant Sharma, Amith Mishra, Dinesh Karthik.

Coach: Gary Kirsten