Yuvraj Singh has made an expected return to the 15-member Indian
squad for the only T20 and the first three ODIs of the seven-match
series against Australia. However, there was no place for discarded
seniors Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Zaheer Khan and Harbhajan
Singh.
There are very few surprises in the Mahendra Singh
Dhoni-led squad that has performed admirably by winning the ICC
Champions Trophy and the tri-series in West Indies. The return of
Yuvraj, the stylish 31-year-old left-hander is the only major change.
Yuvraj has replaced wicket-keeper batsman Dinesh Karthik in the squad.
There
are four changes from the Indian squad that won the Champions Trophy in
June this year. Along with Karthik being replaced by Yuvraj, Murali
Vijay has lost his place to Ambati Rayudu. All-rounder Irfan Pathan is
not fit while pacer Umesh Yadav has been dropped after a poor showing in
the Challenger Trophy. Specialist bowlers Jaydev Unadkat and Shami
Ahmed have been drafted in.
Yuvraj last played an ODI for India
on January 27 against England at Dharamsala and was dropped subsequently
due to a poor run of form and a lack of fitness. Having undergone a
rigorous physical training camp in France, a fitter Yuvraj made his
comeback into the competitive cricket with a bang scoring 123, 40 and 61
in three List A matches against the West Indies A, followed by a
quick-fire 52 against the same opponent in a T20 game.
He carried
on with his good form in the Challenger Trophy for India Blue where he
scored 84 against India Red and a 29 in the final against Delhi.
The
batting line-up remains pretty much the same with Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit
Sharma, Virat Kohli and Dhoni being automatic selections. Yuvraj's
inclusion as the a specialist batsman in the playing XI means he will
bolster the middle-order that was always a bit vulnerable.
Squad for Australia:
Mahendra Singh Dhoni (Captain), Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit Sharma, Virat
Kohli, Yuvraj Singh, Suresh Raina, Ravindra Jadeja, R. Ashwin,
Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Ishant Sharma, Vinay Kumar, Amit Mishra, Ambati
Rayudu, Mohammed Shami, Jaydev Unadkat.
The schedule of the matches is as follows:
T20 International - Rajkot - 10 October
First ODI - Pune - 13 October
Second ODI - Jaipur - 16 October
Third ODI - Mohali - 19 October
