Six changes in India squad for England, Sehwag to join later
July 2nd, 2011 - 9:19 pm ICT by IANS
Chennai, July 2 (IANS) Explosive opening batsman Virender Sehwag will join the India squad in England after a fortnight and an extra seamer has been preferred for the four-Test series.
The Indian team will leave for England at the end of the West Indies tour and Sehwag, who is recovering from a shoulder surgery, will join it as the 17th player. The first Test begins at Lord’s July 20.
The squad shows six changes from the one now in the West Indies. Sachin Tendulkar, Gautam Gambhir, who has been named vice-captain, Yuvraj Singh, Zaheer Khan, Santhakumaran Sreesanth and wicketkeeper Wriddhiman Saha return to the side at the expense of Virat Kohli, Murali Vijay, Subramaniam Badrinath, Pragyan Ojha, Parthiv Patel and Abhimanyu Mithun.
The selectors, who met here Saturday, decided to have a fifth seamer and go with only two spinners - off-spinner Harbhajan Singh and leg-spinner Amit Mishra. Left-arm spinner Pragyan Ojha has been left out.
The five seamers in the squad are Zaheer, Munaf Patel, Sreesanth, Ishant and Praveen Kumar, while the two middle-order batsmen in the West Indies - Kohli and Badrinath - and opener Vijay have been dropped. Left-handed Abhinav Mukund has been retained after his gritty display in the second innings of the second Test at Bridgetown.
Sreesanth, who pulled out of the West Indies tour nursing a sore elbow, is preferred to Mithun while his replacement Sharma has been retained after his stupendous showing in the ongoing series. Munaf Patel stays, though he did not play in the first two Tests in the West Indies because of an injury.
Yuvraj, who missed out on the West Indies tour because of a lung infection, edged out Kohli who had a forgettable first Test in Kingston, though he roughed it out in the second innings of the Bridgetown Test to regain form. Raina sealed his place after two good knocks in the two Tests in the Caribbeans.
Saha swaps places with Patel as reserve wicketkeeper-batsman.
Neither the selectors nor the Indian cricket board secretary Narayanswamy Srinivasan offered to speak to the media after the announcement of the squad.
The 17-member squad:
Mahendra Singh Dhoni (captain), Gautam Gambhir (vice-captain), Abhinav Mukund, Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar, V.V.S. Laxman, Suresh Raina, Harbhajan Singh, Zaheer Khan, Santhakumaran Sreesanth, Praveen Kumar, Ishant Sharma, Munaf Patel, Amit Mishra, Yuvraj Singh, Wriddhiman Saha, and Virender Sehwag.
- Indian cricket team leaves for West Indies - Jun 01, 2011
- Board's Grade A contract for Yuvraj, Ishant and Virat - Oct 29, 2011
- Gambhir, Yuvraj ruled out from West Indies series - May 27, 2011
- Yuvraj axed from Test squad, Pujara included - Sep 20, 2010
- Yuvraj dropped, Pujara drafted in Indian Test squad (Lead) - Sep 20, 2010
- Seniors rested, Gambhir to lead ODI side against New Zealand - Nov 21, 2010
- Gambhir to lead in T20, ODIs in absence of Dhoni (Lead) - May 13, 2011
- World Cup: Selectors to pick 15-member Indian team Monday - Jan 14, 2011
- Seniors rested for Zimbabwe tour, Raina to lead - May 09, 2010
- India will go into third Test with No.1 Test ranking at stake - Aug 09, 2011
- Gambhir named captain for West Indies ODI series - May 13, 2011
- Harbhajan left out of Australia squad - Nov 26, 2011
- Dravid back in ODI squad after two years (Lead) - Aug 06, 2011
- World Cup probables announced - Dec 18, 2010
- Irani Trophy: Sehwag to lead Rest of India - Sep 16, 2009
Tags: abhimanyu, caribbeans, gautam gambhir, harbhajan singh, kohli, lung infection, mithun, mukund, ojha, sachin tendulkar, seamer, seamers, second test, sehwag, shoulder surgery, sore elbow, subramaniam, vice captain, wicketkeeper, zaheer khan