Tuesday, 7th August 2007 at 10:44 am

No Sachin for Twenty20 World Cup

India’s selectors haven’t named their squad yet for the Twenty20 World Cup, but when they do, it won’t include three of the biggest names in Indian cricket. Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid and Sourav Ganguly have all declared themselves unavailable for the tournament, meaning some new faces will appear in the squad for September in South Africa.

There’ll still be plenty of talent in the Indian line-up (Mahendra Dhoni and Virender Sehwag were born to play 20-over cricket), but the decision of the big three to excuse themselves reflects a game that the older order isn’t entirely convinced about. Whether all three would be ideally suited to the short game - Dravid’s nickname of ‘The Wall’ doesn’t stem from frenetic run-gathering, while both Tendulkar and Ganguly are more measured scorers than a decade ago - is now a moot point; fresh talent awaits Indian fans next month.

And that will be the case for all the teams taking place. Standard Bank Pro20 cricket has illustrated to South African fans that the stars of 50-over cricket aren’t always the players who make a difference in the 20-over game, and so each squad will arrive in South Africa with a couple of players decidedly unfamiliar to the greater cricketing world. Not all will come off, certainly, but several are sure to ignite - and in a competition built on pyrotechnics in the middle, that’s exactly what the maiden Twenty20 World Cup needs. Feverpitcher will be firmly in the stands from ball one…