Left-arm paceman Sreenath Arvind and leg-spinner Rahul Sharma are the new faces in the 15-member Indian squad for the first two ODIs of the five-match series against England.
The series begins in Hyderabad on October 14 and the second game will be played in New Delhi on Oct. 17.
Harbhajan out
The selection panel headed by K. Srikkanth left out experienced off-spinner Harbhajan Singh. Another off-spinner R. Ashwin will lead the spin attack that includes left-arm spinning all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja and Rahul Sharma.
Praveen leads attack
With India seeking depth in the pace bowling department that has been jolted by injuries, the wise men have picked five pacemen.
Swing bowler Praveen Kumar leads a largely inexperienced pace pack that consists of Vinay Kumar, Varun Aaron, Umesh Yadav and Arvind.
Aaron, who was part of the Indian ODI squad in England but did not play a game, and Umesh Yadav will add an element of pace to the Indian bowling. Arvind will provide the left-armer's angle.
Of course, the selectors were handicapped by injuries to frontline pacemen Zaheer Khan, Ishant Sharma, and Munaf Patel.
And fitness concerns on the batting front meant maestro Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag, Yuvraj Singh, and Rohit Sharma could not be considered for selection.
Rahane retained
Ajinkya Rahane and Manoj Tiwary who travelled to England as replacements to the injury-hit ODI squad have retained their places. Rahane was impressive in the opportunities provided to him.
Five batsmen
The side has five batsmen in Gautam Gambhir, Rahane, Virat Kohli, Suresh Raina and Tiwary, and batsmen-wicketkeepers in skipper M.S. Dhoni and Parthiv Patel.
Jadeja occupies the all-rounder's slot. Then, there are five pacemen and two specialist spinners.
Keeping the bowling concerns in mind, the selectors have chosen an additional paceman over someone such as Yusuf Pathan.
Selection panel chief Srikkanth said, “There are a lot of fresh faces and we want to see how the youngsters perform. Even in the series against England, the youngsters did well in the ODI series.
Had it not been for the Duckworth and Lewis equations, we might have won a couple of ODIs there.”
Srikkanth added, “The team has been hit by injuries to some senior cricketers but this could provide an opportunity for the younger cricketers to perform well.
“We are optimistic that we could make a fresh beginning after the tour of England.”
The squad (for the first two ODIs): M.S. Dhoni (captain), Gautam Gambhir, Parthiv Patel, Ajinkya Rahane, Virat Kohli, Suresh Raina, Ravindra Jadeja, R. Ashwin, Varun Aaron, Umesh Yadav, Vinay Kumar, S. Arvind, Rahul Sharma, Manoj Tiwary and Praveen Kumar.
