Mumbai, India – Opener Virender Sehwag and pace bowler Zaheer Khan have returned from injuries while Sachin Tendulkar has opted out of India's upcoming limited-overs series in Sri Lanka.
Sehwag and Khan, who were not part of the squad for the Asia Cup in Bangladesh as well as a one-off Twenty20 game against South Africa at Johannesburg in March, were on Wednesday named in a 15-man squad for a series of five one-dayers and a solitary Twenty20 from July 21 in Colombo, Hambantota and Pallekele.
Pace bowler Umesh Yadav also returns to the side after an injury while allrounder Ravindra Jadeja, the costliest player in this year's Indian Premier League auction when he was bought for $2million by Chennai Super Kings, has been dropped.
“We have selected the best possible side,” chief selector Krishnamachari Srikkanth said. “We have a busy year with England and Australia due to tour here, so we hope this season starts with a bang.”
Srikkanth said Tendulkar was not available for the series and that his opting out was no surprise.
“As we all know, Sachin has been selective in playing one-dayers. He must be aiming for the England and Australia series,” Srikkanth said.
Tendulkar, who became the first batsman to score 100 international centuries during the Asia Cup, has limited his participation in limited-overs games for two years.
The 39-year-old Tendulkar has a record 49 centuries in one-day internationals.
Experienced offspinner Harbhajan Singh, who has been signed by English county Essex, continued to be ignored by selectors, who also dropped brothers Yusuf Pathan and Irfan Pathan.
India: Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Virat Kohli, Suresh Raina, Rohit Sharma, Mahendra Singh Dhoni (captain), Ajinkya Rahane, Manoj Tiwari, Ravichandran Ashwin, Pragyan Ojha, Vinay Kumar, Zaheer Khan, Umesh Yadav, Ashok Dinda, Rahul Sharma. – Sapa-AP