Gautam Gambhir, Yuvraj Singh ignored for Champions Trophy; Dhawan, Vinay Kumar make cut
Mohd Shami Ahmed and Ashok Dinda were given the axe, with R Vinay Kumar, Ishant Sharma, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Umesh Yadav and Irfan Pathan shouldering the fast bowling responsibilities.
India have included Shikhar Dhawan and R Vinay Kumar in the 15-man squad for next month's ICC Champions Trophy, while, seniors like Gautam Gambhir and Yuvraj Singh were ignored for the tournament's last edition.
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Right-handed Tamil Nadu opener Murali Vijay, who scored two hundreds against Australia in the Test series, too has been named in the MS Dhoni-led squad.
The national selectors, headed by Sandeep Patil, met on Saturday at the CCI, Mumbai to decide on the 15-man squad, which suggested that IPL form has been taken into account while finalizing the final 15.
Dinesh Karthik and Rohit Sharma, the highest run-getters for Mumbai Indians in the ongoing IPL, were rewarded with a place. Karthik has been recalled to the ODI team after a gap of three years.
Amit Mishra, who is one of the highest wicket-takers in IPL history, pipped Pragyan Ojha as the sides' second specialist spinner.
Mohd Shami Ahmed and Ashok Dinda were given the axe, with R Vinay Kumar, Ishant Sharma, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Umesh Yadav and Irfan Pathan shouldering the fast bowling responsibilities.
India and South Africa are scheduled to kick off the tournament on June 6 at the Sophia Gardens at Cardiff, Wales in a Group B match.
India are to take on the West Indies at the Kennington Oval in London on June 11 and then conclude the four-team group engagement on June 15 against arch-rivals Pakistan at Edgbaston, Birmingham.
Australia, New Zealand, England and Sri Lanka form Group A.
The top two teams from each group would progress to the semi-finals scheduled on June 19 and 20 at the Kennington Oval and Sophia Gardens respectively with the winners advancing to the June 23 final to be played at Edgbaston.
This would be the first international engagement for the team after the conclusion of the four-Test series against Australia on March 24.
Apart from the 15 named for the 8-nation tournament, BCCI selectors also shortlisted a 21-member probables list for the tri-nation series in West Indies involving Sri Lanka. The tri-series follows the Champions Trophy in late June and early July. The other 6 members in that list are Manoj Tiwary, Praveen Kumar, Mohammed Shami Ahmed, Ambati Rayudu, Rahul Sharma and Gautam Gambhir.
India's 15-man squad for ICC Champions Trophy:
MS Dhoni, Virat Kohli, Shikhar Dhawan, Murali Vijay, Suresh Raina, Rohit Sharma, Dinesh Karthik, Ravindra Jadeja, R Ashwin, R Vinay Kumar, Irfan Pathan, Ishant Sharma, Amit Mishra, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Umesh Yadav.
Dinesh Karthik, Vinay Kumar make India ODI squad for Champions Trophy (dummy head)
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India have included xx and xx in the 15-man squad for next month's ICC Champions Trophy.
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Interestingly, xx and xx have been ignored despite decent performances in the ongoing Indian Premier League.
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When the selection panel, headed by Sandeep Patil, named the list of probables on April 6, two prominent names - Virender Sehwag and Harbhajan Singh - were missing from it.
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India and South Africa are scheduled to kick off the tournament on June 6 at the Sophia Gardens at Cardiff, Wales in a Group B match.
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India are to take on the West Indies at the Kennington Oval in London on June 11 and then conclude the four-team group engagement on June 15 against arch-rivals Pakistan at Edgbaston, Birmingham.
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Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and Sri Lanka form Group A.
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The top two teams from each group would progress to the semi-finals scheduled on June 19 and 20 at the Kennington Oval and Sophia Gardens respectively with the winners advancing to the June 23 final to be played at Edgbaston.
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This would be the first international engagement for the team after the conclusion of the four-Test series against Australia on March 24.
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India's 15-man squad:
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MS Dhoni, Virat Kohli, Gautam Gambhir, Shikhar Dhawan, Suresh Raina, Rohit Sharma, Yuvraj Singh, Dinesh Karthik, Ajinkya Rahane, Ravindra Jadeja, R Ashwin, R Vinay Kumar, Irfan Pathan, Ishant Sharma, Bhuvneshwar Kumar.