Mumbai, Sept. 5: The exclusion of Shantakumaran Sreesanth from the Champions Trophy may have come as a surprise, but a member of the selection committee said that it was captain Rahul Dravid’s decision to give Sreesanth and Anil Kumble a rest as they were being preserved keeping the bigger picture in mind.

"It was Dravid’s decision to give rest to Kumble and Sreesanth because both are key bowlers and will play a major role in forthcoming in the South African series to be played in November. The captain was also to the point that he does not want to go in World Cup losing a series which is why the SA tour is important," he said.

"Dravid doesn’t want to risk Kumble and Sreesanth. They have a major role to play in the series and that is why Dravid wanted to preserve them for the long South Africa tour. We haven’t won a single Test series there. He wanted to see Sreesanth fresh.

"Dravid has full faith in Kumble and Sreesanth and these two had an impressive Windies tour. In order to do well in the SA series, these decisions were taken," he added.