Hard hitting all-rounder Yusuf Pathan and slow left arm spinner Pragyan Ojha are the two new faces in the Indian team for the upcoming Tri-Nation Series in Bangladesh and the Asia Cup in Pakistan. The Selectors have axed Dinesh Karthik and Munaf Patel, who were part of the CB Series in Australia that was won by India while there hasn’t been any comeback opportunity for either Rahul Dravid and Sourav Ganguly.
In the 15-man squad led by MS Dhoni for the two tournaments, the two prominent names that are obviously missing are that of Sachin Tendulkar, who was ruled out with a groin injury and Harbhajan Singh, who got banned for 5 ODIs. Harbhajan Singh’s place has gone to the young left arm spinner from Hyderabad – Pragyan Ojha. The 21-year-old Ojha made his first class debut in 2006 and has gone onto represent South Zone and India A. The youngster was lucky to make the cut because of an ankle injury to the seasoned Murali Karthik. Karthik had done exceptionally well whenever he had an opportunity, especially on the slow turning sub-continental tracks.
The man who has literally forced an inclusion in the side is Yusuf Pathan, who probably could be noted as the best Indian performer in the IPL. His range of big shots, cool temperament under pressure and his nagging off breaks make him a dream One Day player for any team. Yusuf Pathan was part of the victorious Indian Squad in the inaugural Twenty20 World Cup in South Africa where he didn’t play a huge role. However, the Baroda player, also the older brother of Irfan Pathan had a tremendous run with the Rajasthan Royals in the ongoing IPL.
India first play a very short Tri-Series in Bangladesh which also includes arch-rivals Pakistan. That tournament is from the 8th and is followed up by 7-Nation Asia Cup which starts from June 24th.
India Squad for BD Tri-Series and Asia Cup: Mahendra Singh Dhoni (Captain and Wicket Keeper), Yuvraj Singh, Suresh Raina, Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Robin Uthappa, Yusuf Pathan, Irfan Pathan, Piyush Chawla, Rohit Sharma, RP Singh, Sreesanth, Pragyan Ojha, Praveen Kumar and Ishant Sharma