Saurashtra all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja on Sunday was rewarded for his performance in the domestic cricket as he got a place in the 15-member Indian squad for the tour of Sri Lanka.
Jadeja's inclusion was on the cards after his fine form in the Ranji Trophy in which he scored over 700 runs at over 67 per innings and picked 42 wickets.
In the selection meeting, which was also attended by the Indian skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni, the five selectors went for seven frontline batsmen, including captain and stumper Dhoni, three all-rounders, four pace bowlers and a specialist spinner. They overlooked Virat Kohli and gave Jadeja, who also plays for IPL Rajasthan Royals, a go ahead.
While Kohli was axed, off-spinner Harbhajan Singh was left out from the team as he was recovering from a hamstring injury. In his absence Pragyan Ojha, who last played against England, will take the responsibility of the spin department.
Uttar Pradesh all-rounder Praveen Kumar also made a comeback in the side and features in the team along with Pathan brothers - Irfan and Yusuf.
Team India is scheduled to play five One-Day Internationals and a Twenty20 in Sri Lanka,starting from January 28. The players are scheduled to assemble in Chennai on January 25th and leave for Sri Lanka the next day.
The first two ODIs of the series would be played at the Rangiri Dambulla International cricket stadium on January 28 and 30.
Colombo's R Premadasa International Cricket stadium will host the third and fourth matches on February 2 and 5, besides the only Twenty20 match of the tour on February 10.
The fifth ODI is scheduled on February 8 at Sinhalese Sports Club, also in Colombo.
Squad: MS Dhoni (Captain), Virender Sehwag (Vice-captain), Sachin Tendulkar, Yuvraj Singh, Gautam Gambhir, Rohit Sharma, Yusuf Pathan, Zaheer Khan, Ishant Sharma, Pragyan Ojha, Munaf Patel, Irfan Pathan, Suresh Raina, Ravindra Jadeja and Praveen Kumar.
(With agency inputs)
Harbhajan rested, Jadeja gets ODI call
Advertisement