Dravid axed; Sehwag, Yuvraj return for Aus series

Chennai:

Veteran batsman Rahul Dravid was on Thursday dropped while the dashing duo of Virender Sehwag and Yuvraj Singh returned to India's 15-member squad for the first two cricket one-dayers of a seven-match series against Australia starting October 25.

Dravid, who was surprisingly named in India's Champions Trophy squad, failed to find favour with the selectors, who have decided to persist with young right-hander Virat Kohli.

Kohli had been inducted in the Champions Trophy squad after Yuvraj was forced out due to a finger injury.

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In an apparent fallout of India's Champions Trophy debacle, out of form all-rounder Yusuf Pathan and pacer R P Singh were dropped from the squad announced by the BCCI after a meeting of its selection panel here.

Wicket-keeper batsman Dinesh Karthik and young all-rounder Abhishek Nayar were also dropped.

Rookie Uttar Pradesh pacer Sudeep Tyagi was the lone new face in the squad, which marked the return of another fast bowler Munaf Patel and young all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja.

Tyagi has played 16 first-class match and has taken 57 wickets at an average of 25.73.

Meanwhile, the BCCI said Yuvraj, who is still recuperating from a fractured finger, will be completely fit by October 28 for the second one-dayer in Nagpur and might as well be available for the first one-dayer on October 25 in Vadodara.

"Selectors are advised that Yuvraj would definitely be fit to play on October 28. It is possible that he may be able to play the first match as well," BCCI secretary N Srinivasan said in a statement.

"The decision on the playing XI for the first match will be made based on Yuvraj's fitness on October 25," he added.

Sehwag, meanwhile, has already recovered from his shoulder injury and is currently playing in the Champions League Twenty20.

The spin combination of Harbhajan Singh and Amit Mishra have retained their place in the side along with in-form fast bowler Ashish Nehra.

The squad:

Mahendra Singh Dhoni (c), Gautam Gambhir, Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag, Yuvraj Singh, Virat Kohli, Praveen Kumar, Amit Mishra, Ashish Nehra, Suresh Raina, Ishant Sharma, Ravindra Jadeja, Munaf Patel, Sudeep Tyagi, Harbhajan Singh.