The Indian selectors have recalled Rahul Dravid to the Indian ODI squad for the Champions Trophy to be played in September in South Africa. He also makes a comeback to the side for the tri-series in Sri Lanka, with New Zealand as the third side.
The selectors have also decided not to risk playing Virender Sehwag in the team after it was found that he hadn’t suitably recovered from his shoulder injury. Already, Sehwag has had played one series in the ICC World T20 with that shoulder injury and did not get to feature in a single game before being sent back to India to treat the injury. Rohit Sharma also faces the axe for his woes against the short-pitched bowling.
There is also a place for Abhishek Nayar, who was earlier a part of the Indian squad on India’s tour to West Indies, but did not bat or bowl throughout the series. Amit Mishra replaces Pragyan Ojha in the side, whereas Suresh Raina and Sachin Tendulkar make comebacks to the side after missing out on the West Indies series. Tendulkar had opted out of the West Indian series as he wanted to rest, while Raina had a fractured thumb.
India’s woes against the short-pitched bowling was one of the reasons that Dravid has been recalled back into the side as the side struggled to come to grips with the West Indian and English bowling.
India squad: MS Dhoni (captain/wk), Sachin Tendulkar, Gautam Gambhir, Rahul Dravid, Suresh Raina, Yuvraj Singh, Yusuf Pathan, Harbhajan Singh, Praveen Kumar, Ishant Sharma, Ashish Nehra, RP Singh, Amit Mishra, Dinesh Karthik, and Abhishek Nayar