Kolkata: V V S Laxman was on Monday dropped from the Indian squad for the World Cup.

The team was announced by Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) secretary S K Nair following a meeting of the selection committee, which held a tele-conference with captain Saurav Ganguly and coach John Wright who are in New Zealand right now.

The inclusion of Mongia in place of Laxman is the only change in the team that is currently playing a seven-match series in New Zealand. Medium-pacer Rakesh Patel, who is in the 16-member squad in New Zealand, has also been left out of the 15- member team for the World Cup.

Laxman's omission was widely expected after he scored only 593 runs this year from 20 matches at 31.21 with 99 as being his highest.

Mongia has played 25 matches and made 740 runs at an average of 33.64 this year.

The selectors also included Parthiv Patel as a specialist wicket-keeper in the side.

Team: Saurav Ganguly (captain), Virender Sehwag, Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar, Yuvraj Singh, Mohammad Kaif, Harbhajan Singh, Javagal Srinath, Zaheer Khan, Anil Kumble, Parthiv Patel, Dinesh Mongia, Sanjay Bangar, Ashish Nehra and Ajit Agarkar.

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