Yuvraj Singh will return to international cricket early next month having been named in India’s Twenty20 squad for the home series against the New Zealand as well as the World T20 championship next month.
Also back in the squad is Harbhjan Singh who’s been recalled to the team after a year’s gap. V.V.S Laxman retained his spot in the Test squad for the two-match series against New Zealand, starting August 23 in Hyderabad, which includes Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane and Piyush Chwala.
That the squad was decided following a three-and-a-half-hour long meeting – one of the longest in recent times – between selection committee members led by chairman Kris Srikkanth is an indicator to the uncertainty that revolved around Yuvraj’s recovery from cancer amongst the BCCI top brass.
The decision to pick Yuvraj wasn’t unanimous with a few selectors apprehensive that the southpaw hasn’t played competitive cricket since India’s Test match against the West Indies in November last year.
The board doctors had, however, cleared him to play, in their fitness report. “Yuvraj has been declared fit, so he makes a comeback. And all of us know, if he gets going, he can single-handedly win matches,” Srikkanth said after the meeting.
The move is interesting since another talented bat Ajinkya Rahane, while picked for Tests, had been in stunning form in shorter versions of the game. He had finished as the fourth-highest run-getter in Indian Premier League, having made 560 runs at an average of 40 and also scored a couple of half-centuries in the limited-overs leg of the India A tour of the West Indies in June.
Chawla inclusion in both T20 and Test squads is baffling as well considering his lack of contribution in previous season’s domestic tournaments as well the fifth edition of the Indian Premier League.
Chawla last played for India during the 2011 World Cup, and his previous Test was in 2008. Balaji last played for India in 2009 but had been in form during IPL turning up for champions Kolkata Knight Riders. Veteran off-spinner Harbhajan Singh was ignored from the Test squad, but was included in the Twenty20 one. A selector told this newspaper that India required experience in the spin department during the World T20s in Sri Lanka.
Ishant Sharma too makes a Tests comeback. So does Suresh Raina, who comes in the squad at the expense of Rohit Sharma.
Test squad
MS Dhoni (capt/wk), Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, VVS Laxman, Sachin Tendulkar, Virat Kohli, Cheteshwar Pujara, Suresh Raina, Ajinkya Rahane, R Ashwin, Zaheer Khan, Umesh Yadav, Pragyan Ojha, Piyush Chawla, Ishant Sharma
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