India squad for ICC Cricket World Cup 2011

The much awaited Indian squad for the World Cup has been announced. The only major surprise has been the exclusion of Rohit Sharma and Inclusion of Piyush Chawla.

There is no back-up wicket keeper in case Dhoni suffers an injury. There was no place for S.Sreesanth - who impressed the South Africa test series, while the disappointing Ishant Sharma has been omitted as expected.

MS Dhoni will lead a 15 member squad which includes 8 batsmen, 3 spinners and 4 Fast Bowlers.

India are clubbed in Group-B in the world Cup alongwith Bangladesh, England, South Africa, West Indies, Ireland and The Netherlands.

India will play the inaugural match of the World Cup 2011 against Bangladesh in Mirpur on February 19.

India squad: Mahendra Singh Dhoni (c), Virender Sehwag (vc), Gautam Gambhir, Sachin Tendulkar, Virat Kohli, Yuvraj Singh, Suresh Raina, Yusuf Pathan, Harbhajan Singh, Piyush Chawla, Ravichandran Ashwin, Zaheer Khan, Ashish Nehra, Praveen Kumar, Munaf Patel.

South Africa Squad for ICC World Cup 2011

Uncapped leg-spin bowler Imran Tahir was named in South Africa's 15-man squad for the Cricket World Cup 2011 in India, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka from February 19 to April 2.

Remarkable omissions are veteran wicketkeeper batsman Mark Boucher and all-rounder Albie Morkel, who both had reputations as strong finishers in the closing overs of one-day games.

Tahir, John Botha and left-armer Robin Peterson will form South Africa's spin attack.

Morne van Wyk, who shone in a Twenty20 match against India, was chosen as the back-up wicketkeeper to de Villiers, had been selected to fill the number seven role.

South Africa Squad: Graeme Smith (c), Hashim Amla, Johan Botha, AB de Villiers(w), JP Duminy, Faf du Plessis, Colin Ingram, Jacques Kallis, Morne Morkel, Wayne Parnell, Robin Peterson, Dale Steyn, Imran Tahir, Lonwabo Tsotsobe, Morne van Wyk(w).

Zimbabwe Squad for ICC World Cup 2011

Zimbabwe's best known batsman Hamilton Masakadza not selected in World Cup Squad.

The squad: Elton Chigumbura (capt), Regis Chakabva, Charles Coventry, Graeme Cremer, Craig Ervine, Sean Ervine, Gregory Lamb, Shingirai Masakadza, Chris Mpofu, Ray Price, Edward Rainsford, Tatenda Taibu, Brendan Taylor, Prosper Utseya and Sean Williams. Manager Lovemore Banda.

Ireland squad for ICC World Cup 2011

Sussex batsman Ed Joyce was named in the Ireland World Cup squad, despite having played for England at the 2007 World Cup.

Ireland have been drawn in Group B at the World Cup 2011, which runs from February 19 until April 2, alongside Bangladesh, India, England, Netherlands, South Africa and West Indies.

Ireland squad: William Porterfield (c), Andre Botha, Alex Cusack, Niall O'Brien (w), Kevin O'Brien, George Dockrell, Trent Johnston, Nigel Jones, John Mooney, Boyd Rankin, Paul Stirling, Albert van der Merwe, Gary Wilson (w), Andrew White, Ed Joyce.

New Zealand Squad for Cricket World Cup 2011

New Zealand has been drawn in Group A against Kenya, Australia, Zimbabwe, Pakistan, Canada and Sri Lanka for the ICC World Cup tournament 2011.

Jamie How was a surprise inclusion in New Zealand's 15-man World Cup squad.

New Zealand: Daniel Vettori (c), Brendon McCullum, Jesse Ryder, Jamie How, Martin Guptill, Ross Taylor, Scott Styris, Kane Williamson, James Franklin, Jacob Oram, Nathan McCullum, Tim Southee, Kyle Mills, Hamish Bennett, Luke Woodcock.

West Indies squad for ICC Cricket World Cup 2011

Veteran batsman and former captain Ramnaresh Sarwan was recalled by the West Indies for the World Cup 2011 on Wednesday.

The West Indies will be captained by Darren Sammy who took over from Chris Gayle when the former captain snubbed a West Indies Cricket Board contract.

Fellow rebels Dwayne Bravo and Kieron Pollard are also included in the 15-man squad for the 19th February-April 2 tournament being played in India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh.

They are in Group B at the World Cup and will face South Africa in their opener on February 24 in New Delhi followed by games against Netherlands, Bangladesh, Ireland, England and India.

West Indies squad: Darren Sammy (c), Chris Gayle, Adrian Barath, Ramnaresh Sarwan, Carlton Baugh Jr, Sulieman Benn, Darren Bravo, Dwayne Bravo, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Nikita Miller, Kieron Pollard, Ravi Rampaul, Kemar Roach, Andre Russell, Devon Smith.

Netherlands Squad for ICC World Cup 2011

Peter Borren was named the skipper of the Netherlands side while Ryan ten Doeschate, who was picked up by the Kolkata franchise for the IPL 4, would be the star attraction of the side.

Netherlands squad: Peter Borren (capt), Adeel Raja, Wesley Barresi (wk), Mudassar Bukhari, Atse Buurman, Tom Cooper, Tom de Grooth, Alexei Kervezee, Bradley Kruger, Bernard Loots, Pieter Seelaar, Eric Szwarczynski, Ryan ten Doeschate, Berend Westdijk, Bas Zuiderent

England 15-man squad for ICC World Cup 2011

The England selectors announced the final 15-man squad for the forthcoming ICC World Cup 2011 hosted in India, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka commencing 19th February.

Matt Prior was the only surprise in the 15-man England Squad.

England squad: Andrew Strauss (Captain), James Anderson, Ian Bell, Tim Bresnan, Stuart Broad, Paul Collingwood, Eoin Morgan, Kevin Pietersen, Matt Prior, Ajmal Shahzad, Graeme Swann, James Tredwell, Jonathan Trott, Luke Wright, Michael Yardy

Bangladesh 15-man squad for ICC World Cup 2011

Former Bangladesh Skipper Mashrafe Mortaza will not take part in World Cup 2011 after the injured fast bowler was left out of Bangladesh's world cup squad named on Wednesday.

Bangladesh who are in Group B with India, England, Ireland, Netherlands, South Africa and West Indies will begin their campaign against fellow co-hosts India in the tournament opener in Dhaka on Feb. 19.

Bangladesh Squad: Shakib Al Hasan (c), Tamim Iqbal, Imrul Kayes, Shahriar Nafees, Zunaed Siddique, Mohammad Ashraful, Roqibul Hassan, Mushfiqur Rahim, Mahmudullah, Naeem Islam, Abdur Razzak, Mohammad Sohrawardi, Shafiul Islam, Nazmul Hossain, Rubel Hossain.

Kenya squad for ICC World Cup 2011

Kenya on Wednesday announced a 15-man squad for ICC Cricket World Cup in India, Sri Lanka & Bangladesh.

Notable omissions in the team that lost all five build-up matches in India earlier this month are left-arm spinner, Hiren Varaiya and seamer Ragheb Aga.

But brothers, Shem Ngoche and James Ngoche who have played for the Under 19 team, have been included.

Kenya Squad: Jimmy Kamande (c), Seren Waters, Alex Obanda, David Obuya, Collins Obuya, Steve Tikolo, Tanmay Mishra, Rakep Patel, Morris Ouma, Thomas Odoyo, Nehemiah Odhiambo, Elijah Otieno, Peter Ongondo, Shem Ngoche, James Ngoche.

Canada squad for ICC World Cup 2011

Canada World Cup Squad: Ashish Bagai (capt/wk), Rizwan Cheema (vc), Hamza Tariq, Jimmy Hansra, Harvir Baidwan, Khurram Chohan, Balaji Rao, Nitish Kumar, John Davison, Henry Osinde, Parth Desai, Hiral Patel, Tyson Gordon, Zubin Surkari, Ruvindu Gunasekera, Karl Whatham.

Australia's World Cup Squad

Defending champions Australia revealed their squad for next month's World Cup, banking on the fitness of a pair of injury-prone pacemen and elder statesmen Ricky Ponting and Mike Hussey.

Veteran fast bowler Brett Lee and short-form specialist Shaun Tait were both included in the 15-man squad, which they are trying to win for the fourth successive time.

Ricky Ponting was named as Captain, but is still recovering from a broken finger, while Hussey made the squad but is a major doubt after a severe hamstring tears in the six-wicket win over England at the MCG on Sunday.

Hussey is expected to be sidelined for at least six weeks, with Australia's first game on February 21, and chairman of selectors Andrew Hilditch conceded he was a doubt for the showpiece event.

"It is a severe injury and we will make a decision closer to departure date," Hilditch said on Tuesday. Players can be replaced before the tournament.

The shocking selection was Victorian all-rounder John Hastings, who has played just two one-day internationals, while David Hussey, Mike's younger brother, also made the squad.

Wicketkeeper-batsman Tim Paine, hyped by many as a future Australian skipper, is part of the 15.

Left-arm spinner Xavier Doherty, who played on Sunday, was overlooked in favour of the returning Nathan Hauritz, who was ignored for the entire Ashes series but has been in top form in domestic first-class cricket this season.

Victorian paceman Peter Siddle was not included, despite being one of the better Ashes performers for Australia with ball and bat.

Australia Squad: Ricky Ponting (c), Michael Clarke, Shane Watson, Cameron White, Brad Haddin, David Hussey, Mike Hussey, Tim Paine, John Hastings, Doug Bollinger, Mitchell Johnson, Brett Lee, Shaun Tait, Steven Smith, Nathan Hauritz.

Pakistan's World Cup squad

Pakistan left out veteran batsman Mohammad Yousuf from their final 15-man squad for next month's World Cup hosted by India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh.

Pakistan all-rounder Shahid Afridi will lead the team.

With Yousuf's exclusion the squad is largely inexperienced, with only seven players having featured in previous World Cups.

Shahid Afridi, Abdul Razzaq and Shoaib Akhtar are the only survivors of Pakistan's runners-up finish in the 1999 tournament.

Pakistan will be without key players Salman Butt, Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Aamer who were all provisionally suspended by the International Cricket Council (ICC) on charges of spot-fixing during team's tour to England last year.

A decision on their case is due on February 5 and the PCB last week said they can be included in the team if absolved.

Another player, Kamran Akmal, who was also under suspicion of match-fixing, was included after being reportedly cleared by the ICC, but all-rounder Shoaib Malik and leg-spinner Danish Kaneria failed to get clearance.

Pakistan, who won the World Cup title in 1992, are placed in Group A of the 14-team event to be played between February 19 to April 2. They open their campaign against Kenya at Hambantota on February 23.

Pakistan Squad: Shahid Afridi (C), Misbah-ul-Haq, Mohammad Hafeez, Kamran Akmal, Younis Khan, Asad Shafiq, Umar Akmal, Abdul Razzaq, Abdur Rehman, Saeed Ajmal, Shoaib Akhtar, Umar Gul, Wahab Riaz, Sohail Tanveer, Ahmed Shahzad

Jayasuriya, Vaas out of Sri Lanka's final squad for the World Cup

There was no place for sentiment in Sri Lanka's final team for the ICC World Cup Cricket 2011, with the national selection panel headed by former great Aravinda de Silva not selecting either Sanath Jayasuriya or Chaminda Vaas in the final fifteen.

Both Jayasuriya and Vaas had been team-mates of de Silva - with all three proving to be integral parts of the team that won the 1996 World Cup, which was the last one held in the subcontinent.

Sanath Jayasuriya and Vaas had been named in the provisional squad of 30 players, but their declining international powers meant that they couldn't find a place for themselves in the final squad, even though they had expressed their wish of playing a final World Cup before retiring. However, neither of them has featured in an ODI for Sri Lanka for over a year, and the chances of their both making the final squad were always slim.

Most of the squad that beat Australia in Australia 2-1 for a maiden ODI series triumph in the country has been retained. Among the surprise omissions was that of off-spinner Suraj Randiv. Randiv had given a good account of himself in his brief international career, alongwith proving to be a good fielder and decent batsman, but left-arm spinner Rangana Herath was preferred over him.

The absence of the veterans means Sri Lanka has only one player in their ranks who knows what it feels like to win a World Cup - world record holder Muttiah Muralitharan. Muralitharan had retired from Test cricket after the first Test against India with a fairytale finish getting to 800 wickets, but had said that he would be available for selection for the World Cup.

The team will be led by Kumar Sangakkara with Mahela Jayawardene being the vice-captain. India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh host the 2011 World Cup, which will take place from February 19 to April 2.

Sri Lanka World Cup squad: Kumar Sangakkara (c & wk), Mahela Jayawardene (vc), Tillakaratne Dilshan, Upul Tharanga, Thilan Samaraweera, Chamara Silva, Chamara Kapugedera, Angelo Mathews, Thisara Perera, Nuwan Kulasekara, Lasith Malinga, Dilhara Fernando, Muttiah Muralitharan, Ajantha Mendis, Rangana Herath.