Indian Cricket Squad for NZ Home Series and upcoming T20 World Cup has been declared. The most-awaited name was Yuvraj Singh, who earned Indian fans heart and man of the series in World Cup 2011 and his famous six sixes of Stuart Board are still lively in fans mind. So, finally Yuvraj Singh is fit and ready to come-back from cancer treatment. Yuvraj Singh
seems to be getting fitter and leaner as his first international outing
approaches.
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| Yuvraj is back to cricket with T20 World Cup |
Yuvraj has been picked to play in the two T20 matches against New Zealand next month and the World Twenty20 in Sri Lanka that follows. The fans are overwhelmed with the
comeback of Yuvraj Singh. The Man of the tournament of the ICC Cricket
World Cup 2011 has played the role of an all-rounder in crucial
tournaments and he would be desperate to be among the runs on the Lankan
soil. The dashing southpaw underwent chemotherapy in the United
States before returning to India in April and was included in
India's preliminary 30-man squad for the Sept 18-Oct 7
tournament in Sri Lanka.
Our very own fab-four veteran batsman VVS Laxman retained his place in the Indian Test squad for the two-match series against New Zealand, starting August 23 in Hyderabad despite his poor show in the last eight Tests in England and Australia. Sachin Tendulkar
will be back in action after his two-month break, having skipped the
limited overs series in Sri Lanka recently, while young batsman Cheteshwar Pujara has predictably got the nod as replacement for the retired Rahul Dravid in the longer version.
The most surprising pick has been Piyush Chawla's inclusion in T20 World Cup squad. The surprise pick certainly is leg-spinner Piyush Chawla, who last played for India in the 2011 World Cup and since then has been confined to the sidelines. Gautam
Gambhir, MS Dhoni, Yuvraj Singh, Rohit Sharma, Irfan Pathan, Harbhajan
Singh are the seven players who were a part of the Indian squad that won
the maiden T20 World Cup organised in Johannesburg in 2007.
The announcement would have come as a huge relief for two players-Harbhajan Singh and Rohit Sharma. Bhajji went into hibernation after his struggle in the Indian Premier League where he failed both as the Mumbai Indians' skipper and as a spin bowler. The ‘Turbanator’ had earlier failed to impress in the away series in England and thus the selectors had no other choice but to drop him.
Rohit Sharma, despite his failures, has once again retained his place which could have been given to the likes of Ajinkya Rahane, Ambati Rayudu. Sharma’s body language these days is enough to suggest the kind of form he is in. The selectors could have easily replaced him with Rahane, who was the highlight of IPL 2012.
The announcement would have come as a huge relief for two players-Harbhajan Singh and Rohit Sharma. Bhajji went into hibernation after his struggle in the Indian Premier League where he failed both as the Mumbai Indians' skipper and as a spin bowler. The ‘Turbanator’ had earlier failed to impress in the away series in England and thus the selectors had no other choice but to drop him.
Rohit Sharma, despite his failures, has once again retained his place which could have been given to the likes of Ajinkya Rahane, Ambati Rayudu. Sharma’s body language these days is enough to suggest the kind of form he is in. The selectors could have easily replaced him with Rahane, who was the highlight of IPL 2012.
Manoj
Tiwary has capitalised the few opportunities which have come his way
and has been rewarded for his patience as well as consistency. While
the selectors should be hailed for their decision to prioritise Tiwary
over Yusuf, one might wonder if they have missed a trick by not
including Ambati Rayudu. The right-hander who has been consistent for
the Mumbai Indians in IPL was in contention for a place in the shorter
format of the game.
But the biggest shocker has come with the selection of Piyush Chawla. One can understand that the selectors wanted a leg-spinner to add variety, but for that purpose Pragyan Ojha would have been a better choice.
But the biggest shocker has come with the selection of Piyush Chawla. One can understand that the selectors wanted a leg-spinner to add variety, but for that purpose Pragyan Ojha would have been a better choice.
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| Indian Cricket Team in new T20 Jersey |
First Indian Cricket will take on New Zealand as the first home series of the season - against New Zealand -
beginning with the Test match at Hyderabad on August 23. The visitors
will play one more Test at Bangalore before ending their tour with two
T20 Internationals at Vizag and Chennai. This will be followed
by the ICC World T20 Championship in Sri Lanka from September 18 to
October 7. The season will continue with the visit by England and
Australia before the IPL.
India Test squad: MS Dhoni (c), Virender Sehwag, Gautam
Gambhir, Sachin Tendulkar, VVS Laxman, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli,
Ravichandran Ashwin, Zaheer Khan, Pragyan Ojha, Umesh Yadav, Ajinkya
Rahane, Piyush Chawla, Ishant Sharma, Suresh Raina
India T20 squad: MS Dhoni
(capt/wk), Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Virat Kohli, Yuvraj Singh,
Suresh Raina, Rohit Sharma, Manoj Tiwary, Irfan Pathan, R Ashwin, Zaheer
Khan, L Balaji, Piyush Chawla, Harbhajan Singh, Ashok Dinda.
