Rahane to lead second-string Indian team for Zimbabwe tour
NEW DELHI, June 29, (Agencies): Batsman Ajinkya Rahane has been chosen to lead a second-string India side for an upcoming limited overs tour of Zimbabwe, national selectors announced on Monday.
The 27-year-old Rahane was named as captain for the three one-day internationals and two Twenty20 games in Harare, with regular captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni and vice-captain Virat Kohli among those rested by selectors. Rahane, a compact batsman who plays orthodox shots rather than innovative ones, has scored 1,175 runs in 15 Test matches, 1,593 in 55 ODIs and 236 in 11 T20 internationals.
Rohit Sharma, Suresh Raina, Ravichandran Ashwin, Shikhar Dhawan and Umesh Yadav were also rested.
Veteran off-spinner Harbhajan Singh returned for limited overs games after making a comeback to the national side in the draw against Bangladesh in Fatullah earlier this month.
There is no specialist wicketkeeper in the side with Ambati Rayudu, Robin Uthappa or Kedhar Jadhav likely to step in, having kept wickets in domestic games.
Batsman Manish Pandey and pace bowler Sandeep Sharma are the only two uncapped players in the side, although there are several players with limited international experience.
The ODIs are scheduled for July 10, 12 and 14 while the T20 games will be played on July 17 and 19.
India squad: Ajinkya Rahane (captain), Murali Vijay, Manoj Tiwary, Ambati Rayudu, Robin Uthappa, Manish Pandey, Kedar Jadhav, Harbhajan Singh, Axar Patel, Karn Sharma, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mohit Sharma, Sandeep Sharma, Stuart Binny, Dhawal Kulkarni.
India discard Gautam Gambhir is training in Perth under former Australia Test batsman Justin Langer to revive his international career, finetuning skills that made him the world’s number one Test batsman in 2009.
The 33-year-old opener was dumped from India’s one-day squad in early 2013 and played the last of his 56 Tests in England last year. The Delhi southpaw has led the Kolkata franchise to two Indian Premier League (IPL) titles but is keen to return to international cricket.
To fulfill that, Gambhir has landed in Perth to train under Western Australia coach Langer, also a former left-handed opener.
“I’ve always followed JL’s career closely,” Gambhir told the Hindustan Times newspaper. “He built his game block by block, step by step. After the death of my coach Parthasarthy Sharma I was looking for someone who could understand my game. I wanted to give it a shot with JL and that is why I am in Perth.”
Langer played 105 Tests for Australia, often joining Matthew Hayden to form a formidable opening pair, before retiring in 2007 and take up coaching.
“I met JL briefly when he came to India with the Perth Scorchers during last year’s Champions League T20,” Gambhir said.
“I could instantly relate to him. What I like about JL is his intensity. His body language on the crease while batting or otherwise meant business. He is a no-nonsense guy and I like it that way.”
Gambhir’s schedule at Perth also includes gymnastic and martial art sessions and the Indian was determined to do whatever it takes to facilitate his international return. in England because we haven’t won here for 14 years. That’s our focus,” added the former Australia batsman.
Australia, fresh from their 2-0 Test series win in the Caribbean, had just about as good an all-round workout as could be expected against Kent.
Fast bowlers Mitchell Johnson and Ryan Harris got through several sharp overs, while several Australia batsmen scored hundreds.
Among those to reach three figures was Steven Smith, whose status as the world’s number-one ranked Test batsman was not enough to stop England new-ball bowler Stuart Broad from suggesting he might struggle in English conditions.
Smith, who came into this match on the back of his 199 against the West Indies in Jamaica, made 111 before retir-