Punjab opener Navjot Singh Sidhu, seamer Venkatesh Prasad and his Karnataka team-mate all-rounder Sunil Joshi have been recalled while all-rounder Robin Singh and Delhi left-arm spinner Rahul Sanghvi, who featured in the one-off Test team against Zimbabwe in Harare recently have been sidelined.

The absence of regular openers in the longer-version of the game, which has been plaguing India of late, was also addressed to by the five selectors -- Ajit Wadekar, Madan Lal, Ashok Malhotra, Anil Deshpande, Shivlal Yadav.

``Ajay Jadeja, VVS Laxman and Navjot Sidhu would be the openers,'' disclosed selection committee chairman Wadekar while addressing newspersons.

``We are trying to build Jadeja's confidence inTests,'' he added. Jadeja, in fact, has been named as deputy to Azharuddin.

``Judging the conditions that would be prevalent in New Zealand, we have decided to include four seamers,'' Wadekar said while commenting on the combination of the squad, which also includes three spinners.

Harbhajan Singh, who has undergone corrective measures after doubts were raised by the International Cricket Council (ICC) Throwing Panel on his bowling action, has been retained, providing a much-needed morale-booster to the young off-spinner.

Delhi off-spinner Nikhil Chopra, Rajasthan opener Gagan Khoda, Bengal wicket-keeper Saba Karim and left-arm spinner Nilesh Kulkarni (Mumbai) and Venkatapathy Raju (Hyderabad) were also discussed during the meeting, Wadekar revealed.

Karim might feature in the one-dayers, Wadekar indicated.

The team selected today is only for the three-Test series, according to Jaywant Lele, secretary of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI). ``The selection committee will meet again onthe last day of the third Test (January 6) to name the replacements for the one-dayers,'' he added. In the event, the contentious issue of sending a 16th member has been laid to rest.

The Indian team would undergo a five-day camp in Mumbai from Nov 28 before they depart for New Zealand on December 2.

The Team

Mohammad Azharuddin (captain), Ajay Jadeja (vice-captain), Vangipurappu Venkata Sai Laxman, Navjot Singh Sidhu, Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar, Saurav Ganguly, Nayan Mongia (wicket-keeper), Ajit Agarkar, Sunil Joshi, Anil Kumble, Javagal Srinath, Venkatesh Prasad, Debashish Mohanty and Harbhajan Singh.

Coach: Anshuman Gaekwad. Manager: SDA Drabu. Physio: Andrew Kokinos. Doctor: Ravinder Chadha.

TOUR ITINERARY

Dec 2: Departure from Mumbai or Delhi
Dec 4: Arrival in New Zealand
Dec 7-10: vs Central Districts at Napier
Dec 12-15: vs Wellington at Wellington
Dec 18-22: 1st Test at Dunedin.
Dec 26-30: 2ndTest at Wellington
Jan 2-6: 3rd Test at Hamilton
Jan 9: 1st ODI at Auckland
Jan 10: Reserve day
Jan 12: 2nd ODI at Hamilton
Jan 13: Reserve day
Jan 14: 3rd ODI at Napier
Jan 15: Reserve day
Jan 16: 4th ODI at Christchurch
Jan 17: Reserve day
Jan 18: 5th ODI at Wellington.
Jan 19: Reserve day