With one eye on the upcoming ICC World Twenty20 2016, the Indian selectors named Yuvraj Singh and Ashish Nehra in the Indian squad for the three Twenty20 Internationals against Australia. Ravindra Jadeja and Mohammed Shami too were back in the One-Day International and the T20I squad the selection committee, headed by Sandeep Patil, announced on Saturday (December 19) in Delhi.
The selectors decided to ring in a few changes and Suresh Raina, Amit Mishra and Stuart Binny have been left out from the ODI squad. Rishi Dhawan, Barinder Singh Sran and Manish Pandey have been included in the squad that features Gurkeerat Singh Mann as well.
In the T20I squad, Hardik Pandya, after his exploits for the Mumbai Indians, has been included that also includes Harbhajan Singh, who has been dropped from the ODI squad after the South Africa series.
Yuvraj last played a T20I for India in the 2014, the ICC WT20 Final in Bangladesh, a match that India lost by six wickets. Nehra has been out of the squad for more than five years now and last played a T20I in 2011 against South Africa in Durban.
"Ashish Nehra is a consistent performer in T20 format, and selectors feel he will be useful. And this is the time to try him out," said Sandeep Patil while announcing the squad. "Yuvraj Singh has been special and will always remain special.
"We felt that in batting and bowling, the team was looking very predictable that is why we have picked fresh faces. If you look at our selections over last 3 years, we have introduced many youngsters. But game is also about experience
Sran, the left-arm pacer from Punjab, has performed exceedingly well in the on-going Vijay Hazare Trophy 2015-16 and has bagged 13 wickets in six matches. Shami, who bagged 17 wickets for India in the World Cup 2015, suffered a knee injury during the 50-over showpiece event and had to undergo surgery. A long period of rehabilitation followed but the right-arm pacer returned to action earlier this month for Bengal in the Vijay Hazare trophy, where he bagged three wickets in 18 overs across two of Bengal's fixtures in the tournament.
Jadeja's return to the squad was expected after his impressive showing in the recently concluded Test series against South Africa.
Both the T20I and the ODIs squad includes five new faces and Patil acknowledged that they are keen look at young players ahead of the World Cup in India. "We hope new players, in batting or bowling, get a chance in the XI so that we and the captain get opportunity to have a look at them," he said adding the Mahendra Singh Dhoni will lead India in the event.
The selectors have also shown faith in Bhuvneshwar Kumar and have included him in the T20I squad but the pacer lost his place from the ODI squad after picking up just four wickets from five games against South Africa.
Even though Karnataka have had a disastrous season so far, Pandey finds himself in the ODI squad. Pandey scored an unbeaten 94 against Gujarat and then followed it up with 79 against Jammu & Kashmir to catch the eye of the selectors. Pandey has played just one ODI for India - against Zimbabwe - and made a promising 86-ball 71. He was involved in a match-changing partnership with Kedar Jadhav after India were reduced to 82 for 4.
India will play five ODIs in Perth, Brisbane, Canberra, Melbourne and Sydney. The team will then play three T20Is in Adelaide, Melbourne and Sydney.
ODI squad: Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Ajinkya Rahane, Manish Pandey, MS Dhoni (C), Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Mohd. Shami, Axar Patel, Ishant Sharma, Umesh Yadav, Gurkeerat Singh Mann, Rishi Dhawan, Barinder Singh Sran
T20I squad: Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Ajinkya Rahane, Yuvraj Singh, MS Dhoni (C), Suresh Raina, Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Mohd. Shami, Harbhajan Singh, Umesh Yadav, Hardik Pandya, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Ashish Nehra
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