Dravid returns, Sehwag to miss tri-series and Champions Trophy

Chennai, Aug 16 (PTI) Veteran Rahul Dravid Sunday staged
a comeback into India's 15-member one day squad while Virender
Sehwag was ruled out of next month's tri-series in Sri Lanka
and the Champions Trophy in South Africa.

The 36-year-old Dravid, who last played an ODI back in
October 2007, was included in the squad to bolster the
batting line-up for the two tournaments, which will also see
the return of Sachin Tendulkar.

Leg-spinner Amit Mishra was included in place of left-arm
spinner Pragyan Ojha in the squad, announced by Board of
Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) secretary N Srinivasan.

There was no major surprises in the team which features
eight batsmen, four pacers, two spinners and an all-rounder in
Yusuf Pathan.

Mumbai left-hander Abhishek Nayar was retained in the
side but his Ranji teammate Rohit Sharma was axed to
accommodate Suresh Raina, who had skipped the West Indies tour
because of a thumb injury.

The selection committee, headed by Krishnamachari
Srikkanth met at the Chidambaram Stadium Sunday to pick the
squad for the September 8-14 tri-series in Sri Lanka and the
September 22-October 5 Champions Trophy and they went by the
fitness level of the players and their performance in recent
past.

Dravid's return was more or less certain after the Indian
top and middle order's poor display against short-pitch
deliveries in both the Twenty20 World Cup in South Africa and
during the West Indies tour.

Besides, Sehwag's shoulder injury which necessitated a
surgery, weakened the Indian top order and the selectors felt
Dravid's vast experience would strengthen the line-up.

In Sehwag's absence, Tendulkar is set to open with Gautam
Gambhir, while Dravid and Raina will add beef to the top and
middle order, which also include vice captain Yuvraj Singh
and skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni.

Sehwag's absence allowed Dinesh Karthick to hung on to
his place as a reserve opener.

In the bowling department, Mishra staged a comeback to
the ODI format after six long years to join Harbhajan Singh
in the spin unit.

A regular in the Test squad now, Mishra played the last
of his three ODIs back in April 2003 against South Africa and
was frustrated at being branded a Test specialist.

In the pace bowling department, India would sorely miss
spearhead Zaheer Khan who is out of both the tournaments
following a shoulder surgery.

In his absence, the onus would be on Ashish Nehra, Ishant
Sharma, Praveen Kumar and RP Singh to step up to the plate and
perform.

Ravindra Jadeja, Munaf Patel, R Ashwin, Murali Vijay,
Ajinkya Rahane, Dhawal Kulkarni, S Badrinath, Virat Kohli,
Bhuvneshwar Kumar Singh, Wriddhiman Saha and Pankaj Singh are
the 11 cricketers who were named in the list of 30-member
probables for the Champions Trophy but could not survive the
pruning.

The Indian players will have a four-day training camp at
the National Cricket Academy in Bangalore from August 27. The
camp is expected to focus on both physical conditioning and
skills before the players disperse on August 30 to participate
in the BCCI Corporate Cup.

Indian squad: MS Dhoni (c), Yuvraj Singh (v-c), Sachin
Tendulkar, Gautam Gambhir, Rahul Dravid, Suresh Raina,
Harbhajan Singh, Yusuf Pathan, RP Singh, Ishant Sharma, Dinesh
Karthik, Abhishek Nayar, Praveen Kumar and Amit Mishra. PTI RE
DDC
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