June 29, 2015
MUMBAI: Ajinkya Rahane will lead a second-string Indian team for the short limited-overs series against Zimbabwe, Sandeep Patil, the chairman of selectors, announced on Monday (June 29).
June 29, 2015
MUMBAI: Ajinkya Rahane will lead a second-string Indian team for the short limited-overs series against Zimbabwe, Sandeep Patil, the chairman of selectors, announced on Monday (June 29).
MS Dhoni, Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Suresh Raina, R Ashwin and Shikhar Dhawan were among the players to either be rested for the series of three One-Day Internationals and two Twenty20 Internationals. Ravindra Jadeja and Umesh Yadav, meanwhile, were dropped.
Harbhajan Singh, who was picked for the one-off Test against Bangladesh, returned to the limited-overs side as well after having last played an ODI in June 2011 and a T20I in the 2012 World T20. M Vijay, Karn Sharma, Robin Uthappa and Manoj Tiwary were among the others making comebacks while Sandeep Sharma was the new face in the Indian team.
Manish Pandey, who was selected for the T20I against West Indies last year, which was later cancelled, and Kedar Jadhav, who played his lone ODI against Sri Lanka in November 2014, also found berths in the side.
Ambati Rayudu, Axar Patel, Dhawal Kulkarni, Stuart Binny, Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Mohit Sharma, who were all part of the three-ODI series in Bangladesh, were retained in the squad.
Interestingly, no specialist wicketkeeper was named in the Indian touring party, with Uthappa, Rayudu and Jadhav in the mix as makeshift options for duty behind the stumps.
While calling for an improved performance from India after the loss to Bangladesh, Patil put to rest speculation about Dhoni's captaincy. “Just like you, we were also not happy with India's performance in Bangladesh. We have to move forward,” he said. “Dhoni has only been rested. So don't read much into Rahane becoming captain.”
The selectors also named Cheteshwar Pujara as the captain of the India A squad to take on Australia A and South Africa A in a tri-series in Chennai and Wayanad next month.
Squads
India: Ajinkya Rahane (capt), M Vijay, Ambati Rayudu, Manoj Tiwary, Kedar Jadhav, Robin Uthappa, Manish Pandey, Harbhajan Singh, Axar Patel, Karn Sharma, Dhawal Kulkarni, Stuart Binny, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mohit Sharma, Sandeep Sharma.
India A: KL Rahul, Abhinav Mukund, Cheteshwar Pujara (capt), Karun Nair, Shreyas Iyer, Naman Ojha, Vijay Shankar, Amit Mishra, Pragyan Ojha, Shardul Thakur, Varun Aaron, Abhimanyu Mithun, Umesh Yadav, Shreyas Gopal, Baba Aparajith.
Courtesy: Widen India
