New Delhi, Dec. 18: All-rounder Irfan Pathan is the notable absentee in India’s 30-man preliminary squad for next year’s World Cup.
The squad, announced by the Indian cricket control board’s chief selection committee led by Kris Srikkanth on Saturday, is on expected lines with recent performances being given additional weightage.
Irfan’s brother Yusuf is in after a whirlwind hundred against New Zealand in a recent ODI at Bengaluru, as are Delhi opener Shikhar Dhawan, Tamil Nadu bowler R. Ashwin, Saurashtra batsman Cheteshwar Pujara and leg-spinner Piyush Chawla. Irfan has been on the sidlelines since February 2009 in ODIs. He also missed the initial stages of this year’s Ranji Trophy due to an injury, which may have further diminished any remote chances he would’ve had of making a comeback.
The only uncapped player among the probables is Mumbai’s Ajinkya Rahane, who has been in incredible touch in domestic circuit.
The batting list is headed by Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Yuvraj Singh, Rohit Sharma and Suresh Raina. Dashing Delhi batsman Virat Kohli is obviously included, given his recent performances in the recently-concluded ODI series against New Zealand
The bowling attack is led by Zaheer Khan, Ashish Nehra, S. Sreesanth, Munaf Patel and Ishant Sharma.The spin department has the experienced Harbhajan Singh along with Amit Mishra, Chawla, Pragyan Ojha and Ashwin.
Apart from Mahendra Singh Dhoni, the probables list has three other wicketkeepers in Parthiv Patel, Wriddhiman Saha and Dinesh Karthik. The preliminary squad will be trimmed to 15 players by January 19.
List of probables for WC: Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Virender Sehwag, Sachin Tendulkar, Gautam Gambhir, Virat Kohli, Yuvraj Singh, Suresh Raina, Harbhajan Singh, Zaheer Khan, Ashish Nehra, S. Sreesanth, Munaf Patel, Ishant Sharma, Vinay Kumar, Murali Vijay, Rohit Sharma, Ravindra Jadeja, Ajinkya Rahane, Saurabh Tiwary, Yusuf Pathan, Parthiv Patel, R. Ashwin, Wriddhimaan Saha, Dinesh Karthik, Shikhar Dhawan, Amit Mishra, Piyush Chawla, Cheteshwar Pujara, Pragyan Ojha, Praveen Kumar.