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NEW DELHI, Nov 30 (AFP) - India's cricket captain Sourav Ganguly is angry the selectors did not consult him before picking the team for the first Test against England, a newspaper reported on Friday.

"They (selectors) did not bother to ask me for my suggestions, nobody called me," the Mid-Day newspaper quoted Ganguly as saying.

Ganguly, who was away on the South African tour when the selectors named the 14-man squad on Wednesday, said he had expected a phone call from chairman Chandu Borde.

"Couldn't they call me for two minutes? Is it a new rule that the captain will not be asked for his opinion? I'll try to confirm this from the president Jagmohan Dalmiya", he told the paper.

"Now I understand why Sachin resigned," Ganguly said, referring to master batsman Sachin Tendulkar's refusal to lead India two seasons ago amidst reports of a spat with the selectors.

In an unexpected move, the selectors omitted the entire five-man pace attack that went to South Africa, for the Mohali Test scheduled to start on Monday.

Borde said that except pace spearhead Javagal Srinath, who bowled well in South Africa before being injured, the rest of the attack had disappointed him.

In their place, the selectors picked three rookie bowlers, Sanjay Bangar, Iqbal Siddiqui and Tinu Yohannan.

"I know our pacemen have not bowled well in South Africa," Ganguly said.

"But are the chosen ones better than Ajit Agarkar, Ashish Nehra and Zaheer Khan?

"We needed a left-armer to create some roughs on the wicket so that the off-spinners could turn the ball more.

"But now we don't have that option," Ganguly said, adding that he had only watched Siddiqui in action.

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