In a move to rest him ahead of India's tour to the West Indies, the national selection committee have decided to rest Sachin Tendulkar for the first three games of the upcoming five-match one-day international series against Zimbabwe.

Tendulkar's knees have been giving him trouble of late, and he has been prescribed rest and exercises. Another senior player rested for the one-day series is Javagal Srinath, who personally asked for the hiatus.

Rahul Dravid makes a return to the one-day squad after missing the England series, and Tinu Yohannan has been brought in to replace Srinath in the pace bowling department.

A surprise inclusion is VVS Laxman, who was dropped from the one-day team during the England series following a woeful run of form. His recent axing from the Test team for the Delhi match against Zimbabwe was another indication that the selectors were doubtful about his present form. This is perhaps an opportunity for Laxman to play himself back into form ahead of the West Indies tour, where he will be a crucial player.

The one-day squad:

Sourav Ganguly (captain), Rahul Dravid, VVS Laxman, Virender Sehwag, Dinesh Mongia, Mohammad Kaif, Ajay Ratra (wicket-keeper), Sarandeep Singh, Harbhajan Singh, Zaheer Khan, Ajit Agarkar, Sanjay Bangar, Tinu Yohannan, Anil Kumble

Dinesh Mongia to lead India A

The Indian selectors also announced the India 'A' squad which will leave shortly on a 32-day tour of South Africa.

The squad will be led by Dinesh Mongia who has also been selected of the one-day series against Zimbabwe. Abhijit Kale, who impressed in Zimbabwe's tour opener, and the talented Mohammad Kaif also get a look-in.

Baroda medium-pacer Rakesh Patel, Orissa medium-pacer Debasis Mohanty, and all-rounder Rohan Gavaskar, the son of the great Sunny Gavaskar, who did well in the current Ranji season, are the other notable inclusions in the touring party.

The India 'A' squad:

Dinesh Mongia(captain), Abhijit Kale, Y Venugopal Rao, Mohammad Kaif, Parthiv Patel (wicket-keeper), Jacob Martin, Gautam Gambhir, Amit Pagnis, Rohan Gavaskar, L Balaji, Rakesh Patel, Amit Bhandari, Amit Mishra, Murali Kartik, Debasis Mohanty.

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