India drop Dravid for one-dayers

India have left out former captain Rahul Dravid for the first two one-day games against Pakistan next month.

The 34-year-old was rested for the final game against Australia recently after making 80 runs in nine innings.

"We wanted to give him a break," chief selector Dilip Vengsarkar said. "He is a great player. He will be back soon."

Opener Dinesh Karthik was also omitted, with Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir recalled, and paceman Praveen Kumar the only newcomer in a 15-man squad.

Sehwag, who has slipped down the Test and ODI pecking order after his own slump - his last appearance for India other than in Twenty20 games was in June - will have a chance to re-establish himself.

But the decision to leave out Dravid for only the second time in his one-day career will cause the biggest stir.

His dismal sequence of scores began at the end of the limited-overs series in England and, after he sat out the World Twenty20, continued in the five games he featured in against the Aussies.

He surprisingly stepped down as skipper in September after leading the team to a Test series triumph against England, admitting the pressures were affecting his batting.

Vengsarkar appeared to rule him out of the remaining three games, barring a crisis.

"If they need him, he'll be there for the next few games," he added. "Fitness and fielding are very important. We have given him a break."

The first of five one-day internationals takes place in Guwahati on 5 November, with three Tests to follow.

India squad: Dhoni (capt, wkt), Yuvraj Singh, Ganguly, Tendulkar, Gambhir, Sehwag, Uthappa, Irfan Pathan, RP Singh, Rohit Sharma, Kartik, Zaheer Khan, Santh, Harbhajan Singh, Kumar.

Source: BBC Sport