Dhoni, Kohli rested; Rahane to lead India
Harbhajan recalled in one-day team after four years; Jadeja dropped
Middle-order batsman Ajinkya Rahane was on Monday made captain of the 15-member Indian cricket team that will tour Zimbabwe in July as Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Virat Kohli among other seniors were rested.
Opening batsman Shikhar Dhawan, Suresh Raina, Ravichandran Ashwin, Rohit Sharma and Umesh Yadav along with Dhoni and Kohli were rested by the Board of Control for Cricket in India’s (BCCI) AllIndia Senior Selection Committee which met here on Monday.
India will play three One Day Internationals (ODI) and two Twenty20 Internationals from July 10 to 19 in Harare.
Meanwhile, another middleorder bat, Cheteshwar Pujara, has been named skipper of the India A squad for the two fourday games against Australia A. Both the games will be played in Chennai — from July 22-25 and from July 29 to August 1.
This will be the first time legendary Rahul Dravid will be in-charge of the A team since he was appointed India Under-19 and India A coach earlier this month.
Lay-off period
Chairman of selectors Sandeep Patil said the rested players were given a lay-off period on their own request. India have been playing cricket continually since the Australia series which started last year in November. Meanwhile, all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja’s name does not figure in the squad — implying he has been dropped. The southpaw’s performance has dipped off-late. However, despite being “rested” from the India squad, pace bowler Yadav was still named in the India A team.
No specialist wicketkeeper has been named in the squad but Robin Uthappa, Kedar Jadhav and Ambati Rayudu, all of whom have been selected, have kept wickets in the past.
Meanwhile, veteran offspinner Harbhajan Singh made a comeback to the ODI squad in four years. He last played an ODI in June 2011 against the West Indies while he was last picked for T20Is in September 2012 against Australia.