An injured Ravindra Jadeja and young left-arm spinner Axar Patel were today named in India's 15-member squad for the cricket World Cup in Australia and New Zealand, beginning next month.
Allrounder Stuart Binny and batsman Ambati Rayudu were also included in the squad announced by BCCI secretary Sanjay Patel after a meeting of the selection committee here.
The selectors, however, ignored Yuvraj Singh, who was not in the list of the 30-member probables but had come into reckoning after his three back-to-back centuries in the Ranji Trophy.
Opener Shikhar Dhawan, who struggled in the test matches series against Australia, has been retained in the squad even as the selectors ignored Murali Vijay, Robin Uthappa and Manoj Tiwary for the high-profile event to be held from February 14 to March 29.
The 20-year-old Axar Patel, who has made a reasonably good impression in the few ODIs he has played, was expectedly picked in the squad, considering that Jadeja's fitness could be an issue.
The team, to be captained by Mahendra Singh Dhoni, has no major surprises with the selectors opting to go with four specialist pace bowlers -- Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mohammad Shami, Ishant Sharma and Umesh Yadav -- considering the pacy wickets in Australia and New Zealand.
"Jadeja at present is undergoing rehabilitation. He is doing wonderfully well. We had detailed discussion with BCCI pshyio (on his inclusion) and we are confident that he will return to training within 10 days," Patel said on Jadeja's fitness.
Patel said Yuvraj's name was deliberated upon but decided against selecting him.
"Not only Yuvraj Singh but other names were also discussed apart from the 30 probables. There were deliberations between five selectors and captain Dhoni and coach Duncan Fletcher were on the conference call," Patel said.
The selectors also announced the team for the tri-series to follow the Test matches in Australia. Apart from India and Australia, England will be the third team. Apart from the 15 selected for the World Cup, Dhawal Kulkarni and Mohit Sharma have been included.
Team for World Cup:
Mahendra Singh Dhoni (C), Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit Sharma, Ajinkya Rahane, Virat Kohli, Suresh Raina, Ambati Rayudu, Ravindra Jadeja, R Ashwin, Axar Patel, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mohammad Shami, Ishant Sharma, Stuart Binny and Umesh Yadav.
Team for ODI Tri-series:
Mahendra Singh Dhoni (C), Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit Sharma, Ajinkya Rahane, Virat Kohli, Suresh Raina, Ambati Rayudu, Ravindra Jadeja, R Ashwin, Axar Patel, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Ishant Sharma, Stuart Binny, Umesh Yadav, Dhawal Kulkarni and Mohit Sharma.
