Selectors drop Gambhir, bring back Harbhajan Singh
Mumbai: Indian cricket squad announced on Sunday for the first two Tests against Australia starting February 22 in Chennai. Under-performing opener Gautam Gambhir was shown the door and Shikhar Dhawan being his surprise replacement in the 15-member team.
Senior off-spinner Harbhajan Singh rode on past reputation to return to the squad to form a three-pronged spin attack also comprising R Ashwin and Pragyan Ojha.
With Zaheer Khan, Umesh Yadav and Irfan Pathan recovering from injuries, the selectors opted to give rookie paceman Bhuvneshwar Kumar, who impressed in the limited overs-series against England and Pakistan, his maiden Test call.
On the other hand, the 31-year-old Gambhir, for whom a Test hundred has proved elusive for over three years now, became the biggest casualty of India’s 1-2 home debacle against England last year.
Gambhir will, however, lead India A in a practice match against Australia from February 16 to 18 in place of Dhawan.
Interestingly, Sehwag has also not been in the best of form and missed a chance to get some runs under his belt by skipping the Irani Cup tie here due to a stomach bug. But the selectors have retained him with Murali Vijay and Dhawan being the other openers.
The 27-year-old Dhawan, set to be among the reserves, has been in good form in the domestic circuit, striking a hundred for Delhi in a warm-up match against England last year.
