No Ashwin, Jadeja in India ODI team for SA

new delhi — The seasoned spin duo of Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja continued to find themselves out of the 17-member squad for the Oneday Internationals (ODI) that the BCCI on Saturday named for the six games against South Africa in February next year.

The board’s senior selection committee, which met here earlier in the day under chairman M.S.K. Prasad left paceman Umesh Yadav out while recalling Mohammed Shami in the squad.

Shami last played an ODI against Australia in September 2017. The squad also saw the return of Kedar Jadhav, who suffered a hamstring injury that kept him out of the limited-overs series against Sri Lanka.

Mumbai pacer Shardul Thakur also found a place in the squad after missing the limited-overs leg of the Sri Lanka series due to a shoulder injury. The Virat Kohliled squad includes as many as 10 frontline batsmen, including Hardik Pandya and Mahendra Singh Dhoni while the young wrist spin duo of Yuzvendra Chahal and Kuldeep Yadav were rewarded for their impressive ODI form.

Asked about the continued absence of the experienced duo of Ashwin and Jadeja, Prasad said: “We have enough domestic matches. They have played enough cricket and have enough number of wickets under the belt,” he said. “(The) only issue is we have tried these guys (the young spinners) and time and again they are winning games for you, so it makes sense to continue with these guys for some time.”—