Master batsman Sachin Tendulkar found a place in the Indian ODI team for the Asia Cup, scheduled to be held next month in Bangladesh.
However, Virender Sehwag, who has had a horrendous Australian tour so far, was ‘rested’ for the Asia Cup which was declared today in Mumbai.
Apart from his form with the bat, his relation with skipper MS Dhoni broke down in the tour and became a centre of debate at a time when the concentration should have been on how to improve the team’s sagging morale.
The team will be led by regular skipper MS Dhoni while young Virat Kohli would be his deputy.
Injury-prone paceman Zaheer Khan and new pace sensation Umesh Yadav were rested after the grueling tour Down Under.
Bengal pacer Ashok Dinda, who has had a tremendous domestic season, made his comeback into the team while big-hitting Yusuf Pathan got one more life-line to cement his place in the limited-overs team.
The selectors named two allrounders in the team: Ravindra Jadeja, Yousuf Pathan.
The spin department would be taken care of by off-spinner R Ashwin and leg-spinner Rahul Sharma.
Seamers Vinay Kumar, Praveen Kumar and Irfan Pathan retained their place in the side while stumper Parthiv Pathan was dropped as the selectors decided to go with only one wicketkeeper.
Apart from India, arch rivals Pakistan, Sri Lanka and hosts Bamgladesh will take part in the Asia Cup to be held in Mirpur from March 11 to 22.
Indian Team: Indian Team: MS Dhoni (Captain), Gautam Gambhir, Sachin Tendulkar, Virat Kohli (vice-captain), Rohit Sharma, Irfan Pathan, Ravindra Jadeja, Vinay Kumar, Praveen Kumar, Ashok Dinda, Suresh Raina, R Ashwin, Yusuf Pathan, Rahul Sharma, Manoj Tiwary