India's cricket chiefs on Wednesday ordered the national team to leave in two batches for next month's Pakistan tour to enable the entire squad to gain match practice.
Twelve of the 16 players, led by captain Rahul Dravid and coach Greg Chappell, will depart for Lahore on January 5 and take part in the three-day practice match there from January 7-9.
Four others, including former captain Sourav Ganguly, will stay back and play the next round of Ranji Trophy first-class matches from January 3-6, Indian cricket board secretary Niranjan Shah said.
Ganguly, spinner Anil Kumble, opening batsman Virender Sehwag and reserve wicket-keeper Parthiv Patel will join the rest of the tourists on January 7, six days before the first Test begins in Lahore on January 13.
"The decision to split the team was taken after consulting Dravid and Chappell," said Shah.
"We needed only 12 players for the practice match in Lahore and the other four would have sat out doing nothing. At least now everyone will be occupied."
The Indian team for the practice match in Lahore will comprise: Dravid, Gautam Gambhir, Wasim Jaffar, Venkatsai Laxman, Sachin Tendulkar, Yuvraj Singh, Mahendra Dhoni, Irfan Pathan, Ajit Agarkar, Zaheer Khan, Rudra Pratap Singh and Harbhajan Singh.
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