All-rounder and middle order batsman Yuvraj Singh along with spinner Pragyan Ojha are named for the upcoming two-Test cricket series against England starting from December 11 in Chennai. The Test series was in doubt after the Mumbai terror incident, which compelled the England team to end the tour abruptly.
With all security concerns the series is now under its way with first match scheduled to be played at Chennai from Dec 11-15 and the second at Mohali from Dec 19-23.
Yuvraj, who had been in blistering form in the recent ODI series, rose over as the apt candidate for the slot occupied by Ganguly, who took his retirement from both forms of the game. Singh had smashed 325 runs in five one-day internationals against England, including two back-to-back centuries.
Promising left arm spinner Pragyan Ojha, who also represents Hyderabad Deccan Chargers in the Indian Premier League (IPL), has been called for this series viewing the importance of an additional spinner ahead of a seamer. As a result, Rudra Pratap Singh has been dropped from the squad.
On the other hand, Tamil Nadu opener Murali Vijay, who was featured in the last Test against Australia, has been recalled in the squad. Another Tamil Nadu batsman Subramanium Badrinath, who didn’t get any chance to play in the four Tests against the Aussies, also came as a surprise inclusion as Gautam Gambhir has already made a come back after one-Test ban.
India Test Squad: Mahendra Singh Dhoni (capt), Virender Sehwag (vice-captain), Gautam Gambhir, Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar, VVS Laxman, Yuvraj Singh, Amit Mishra, Harbhajan Singh, Zaheer Khan, Ishant Sharma, S Badrinath, Munaf Patel, Murali Vijay, Pragyan Ojha.
It is to mention here that the venues were revised after the November 26 terror attack on Mumbai. Ahmedabad and Mumbai were replaced by Mohali and Chennai as the two Test venues.
Meanwhile, the England team has left for Abu Dhabi and will fly on to India early next week after a final review of the entire security arrangements in both the venues. The England and Wales Cricket Board security advisor, Reg Dickason has also insisted the Board of Control for Cricket in India to put all concerned in place.
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