 The selectors have named Rahul Dravid in the 15-member squad to go to South
Africa to play in the Champions Trophy apart from resting Virender Sehwag
for the prestigious mini-version of the World Cup to be played in South Africa
in September. Dravid had last featured in an ODI in 2007 and despite calls from
former players to retire from the shorter formats of the games, makes a comeback
to the side.
Talking about his selection, Dravid said, "It is nice to be back, I am
very happy. I am looking forward to the Sri Lanka tri-series and the
Champions Trophy in South Africa, to giving it my best. It will be nice to catch
up with the boys once again." He also added that it was never about proving
a point to anyone, as he never played his game like that. Dravid had been rested
from the final ODI of the series against Australia and was never picked
again by Dilip Vengsarkar, the then chief selector.
Sehwag's exclusion from the side is also on expected lines as he had yet to
recover from his shoulder injury and wasn't expected to play in the three-nation
tournament with Sri Lanka and New Zealand before the Champions Trophy.
While the temptation to play him would have been obviously there, the issue
with this could have been a repeat of an ICC World T20-like scenario, where
an unfit Sehwag had been a part of the squad but did not play a single game
and was then sent back.
Apart from the duo, Amit Mishra also replaces Pragyan Ojha in the side as a
spinning back-up to Harbhajan Singh, while Abhishek Nayar also maintains
his place in the side. Ravindra Jadeja makes his way out as his performances
haven't been too convincing yet, while Dinesh Karthik has been selected as a
back-up for the opening duo of Gautam Gambhir and Sachin Tendulkar.
Tendulkar, who had rested from the series in West Indies has also been
selected for the tri-series and the Champions Trophy. Suresh Raina also makes
a comeback to the side after having missed the previous series because of a
fractured thumb that he sustained during the ICC World T20. Rohit Sharma also
gets dropped from the side because of his sustained lack of form at the international
level.
India one-day squad: Sachin Tendulkar, Gautam Gambhir, Rahul Dravid, Suresh
Raina, Yuvraj Singh, MS Dhoni (capt/wk), Yusuf Pathan, Harbhajan Singh, Praveen
Kumar, Ishant Sharma, Ashish Nehra, RP Singh, Amit Mishra, Dinesh Karthik, and
Abhishek Nayar
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