Dhoni retained skipper, Yuvraj returns to ODI fold

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Under-fire Mahendra Singh Dhoni today retained captaincy while all-rounder Yuvraj Singh returned to India’s ODI team for the first time since last year’s World Cup triumph after he was picked in the 15-member squad for the upcoming series against Pakistan.

Yuvraj, who was recalled to the Indian Twenty20 squad for the World T20 within months of recovering from a rare germ cell cancer, played his last ODI against Sri Lanka in the final of the 50-over World Cup last April.

Since senior batsman Sachin Tendulkar announced retirement from one-day cricket today, the selectors have picked Ajinkya Rahane.

Out-of-form Zaheer Khan, who was dropped after the first two Tests against England, did not find favour with the selection panel headed by Sandeep Patil. Virender Sehwag, who had opted out of the two T20 matches against England, was also called back into the one-day side for the three-match series.

Also returning to the ODI squad will be Ishant Sharma, Ajinkya Rahane, Amit Mishra and Ashok Dinda while Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Shami Ahmed will be playing in their debut series.

The core of the squad remains pretty much the same with skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Virat Kohli, Ravichandran Ashwin and Suresh Raina retaining their places.

The team for the T20 matches against Pakistan was also announced after the selection meeting. The squad is more or less the same with only Abhimanyu Mithun making for Delhi pacer Ishant Sharma. ODI squad: Mahendra Singh Dhoni (Capt), Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Virat Kohli, Yuvraj Singh, Rohit Sharma, Suresh Raina, Ravindra Jadeja, R. Ashwin, Ishant Sharma, Ajinkya Rahane, Ashok Dinda, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Shami Ahmed, Amit Mishra

T20 squad: Mahendra Singh Dhoni (Capt), Gautam Gambhir, Ajinkya Rahane, Yuvraj Singh, Rohit Sharma, Suresh Raina, Virat Kohli, Ravindra Jadeja, R. Ashwin, Ashok Dinda, Ishant Sharma, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Parvinder Awana, Piyush Chawla, Ambati Rayudu.