Press Trust of India
New Delhi, Dec 19: As predicted veteran Yuvraj Singh was recalled to the Indian squad for the T20 series against Australia, but left-arm pace bowler Ashish Nehra was the surprise inclusion as the selectors declared Saturday the ODI and T20 squads for the tour Down Under.
Other surprises include the inclusion of Punjab left-arm seamer Brainder Sran and Baroda all-rounder Hardik Pandya and the axing of Suresh Raina from the ODI squad. Selectors were unsure about how the UP left-hander would tackle the short-pitched stuff on the bouncy pitches in Australia and decided to drop him.
Lanky paceman Ishant Sharma, Ravindra Jadeja and Mohammed Shami were brought back into the ODI team. Shami, who has now recovered from his injury, has been named in both the ODI and T20 squads, announced by BCCI secretary Anurag Thakur here. Rishi Dhawan and Manish Pandey were also included in the ODI squad.
There were a number of players like Stuart Binny, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Ambati Rayudu, Mohit Sharma, Amit Mishra and Harbhajan Singh, who were omitted from the ODI squad. Off-spinner Harbhajan however kept his place in the T20 team.
The 23-year-old Sran and 22-year-old Pandya were rewarded with a berth in the ODI and T20 sides
respectively for their consistent performances in the domestic circuit.
“Keeping in mind the World T20, for lot of players this is the chance to stake their claims and use this tour as a platform. Those not selected were all discussed. We have extended the pool,” chairman of the selection committee Sandip Patil told reporters after the meeting.
Speaking about Yuvraj and Nehra’s comeback, Patil said, “Yuvi is special and captain is happy to have him back. We can’t guarantee him place but chance to perform will be given. Nehra has been a consistent performer in T20 format. He will be useful in the team.”
Patil asserted that the Australian tour will give the selectors a chance to take a look at other players. “This is the time to try out some youngsters and also have a reserve pool ready,” stated Patil. “The idea is to give a fair chance to everybody,” he added.
