England tour: Five Indian cricketers leave for London

Five Indian cricketers, who were not part of the national side in the just-concluded test series against the West Indies, left for London to participate in the upcoming tour of England in the early hours today.

Gautam Gambhir, Yuvraj Singh, Zaheer Khan, S Sreesanth, who had all skipped the Caribbean tour due to injuries and health concerns, and Wriddhiman Saha, who was not picked, have been named in the 17-member Test squad for England.

The five cricketers boarded a British Airways flight from the Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport in Mumbai.

The other members of the team, barring batting maestro Sachin Tendulkar, who is already in England, and Virender Sehwag, who is recuperating from a shoulder surgery, will directly travel to the country from the West Indies, where they defeated the home side in an ODI series and a Test rubber during the same tour for the first time.

India will play four Tests, one T-20 and five ODIs in England between July 21 and September 16, beginning with a practice game against Somerset (Taunton -- July 15-17).

The four Tests will be held at Lord's (July 21-25), Trent Bridge (July 29-August 2), Edgbaston (August 10-14) and Kennington Oval (August 18-22).

India had defeated England in a three-Test rubber when it had last toured the country in 2008.

Squad: Mahendra Singh Dhoni (Capt), Gautam Gambhir (vice Capt), Abhivan Mukund, Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar, V V S Laxman, Suresh Raina, Yuvraj Singh, Harbhajan Singh, Zaheer Khan, S Sreesanth, Praveen Kumar, Ishant Sharma, Amit Mishra, Munaf Patel, Wriddhiman Saha, Virender Sehwag.