yuvi and jaddu back in the squads for aussie tour 2016

With one eye on the upcoming ICC World Twenty20 2016, the national selectors named Yuvraj Singh and Ashish Nehra in the Indian squad for the three Twenty20 Internationals against Australia, on Saturday (December 19). Ravindra Jadeja and Mohammed Shami have also returned to the ODI and the T20I squad.

The selectors decided to ring in a few changes and Suresh Raina, Amit Mishra and Stuart Binny have been left out from the ODI squad. Rishi Dhawan, Barinder Singh Sran and Manish Pandey have been included in the squad that features Gurkeerat Singh Mann as well.

In the T20I squad, Hardik Pandya, after his exploits for the Mumbai Indians, has been included that also includes Harbhajan Singh, who has been dropped from the ODI squad after the South Africa series.

Yuvraj last played a T20I for India in the 2014, the ICC WT20 Final in Bangladesh a match that India lost by six wickets. Nehra has been out of the squad for more than five years now and last played a T20I in 2011 against South Africa in Durban.

"Ashish Nehra is a consistent performer in T20 format, and selectors feel he will be useful. And this is the time to try him out," said Sandeep Patil while announcing the squad. "Yuvraj Singh has been special and will always remain special.

"We felt that in batting and bowling, the team was looking very predictable that is why we have picked fresh faces."

Sran, the left-arm pacer from Punjab, has performed exceedingly well in the on-going Vijay Hazare Trophy 2015-16 and has bagged 13 wickets in six matches. Shami, who bagged 17 wickets for India in the World Cup 2015, suffered a knee injury during the 50-over showpiece event and had to undergo surgery. A long period of rehabilitation followed but the right-arm pacer returned to action earlier this month for Bengal in the Vijay Hazare trophy, where he bagged three wickets in 18 overs across two of Bengal's fixtures in the tournament.

Jadeja's return to the squad was expected after his impressive showing in the recently concluded Test series against South Africa.

ODI squad: Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Ajinkya Rahane, Manish Pandey, MS Dhoni (C), Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Mohd. Shami, Axar Patel, Ishant Sharma, Umesh Yadav, Gurkeerat Singh Mann, Rishi Dhawan, Barinder Singh Sran

T20I squad: Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Ajinkya Rahane, Yuvraj Singh, MS Dhoni (C), Suresh Raina, Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Mohd. Shami, Harbhajan Singh, Umesh Yadav, Hardik Pandya, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Ashish Nehra

 

written by ~ CHARITHARDHA