Gambhir to lead India in West Indies ODI series

CHENNAI: Gautam Gambhir will spearhead the Indian campaign for the upcoming ODI series against West Indies in the Caribbean while Suresh Raina has been appointed Gambhir's deputy.

Captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Sachin Tendulkar were among the seniors who were rested as the national selectors on Friday recalled Tamil Nadu batsman S Badrinath and Bengal wicketkeeper Wriddhimaan Saha in India's 16-member ODI squad for the tour of the West Indies.

Karnataka paceman Vinay Kumar also found a berth while Amit Mishra, Rohit Sharma and Ishant Sharma made a comeback to the team.

Leg-spinner Piyush Chawla and the temperamental paceman S Sreesanth, both of whom featured in India's World Cup-winning squad, were dropped from the team announced by BCCI secretary N Srinivasan after a meeting of the selection committee.

The three seniors - Dhoni, Tendulkar and paceman Zaheer Khan - who have been rested for the ODI series and the lone Twenty20 match, would be available for the Test series.

The series starts with the Twenty20 match on June 4 followed by the five one-dayers, starting June 6. The three Tests are scheduled from June 20.

"Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Sachin Tendulkar and Zaheer Khan have been rested. They will be available for the Test series," Srinivasan said in a statement.

Opener Virender Sehwag was not considered for selection as he will undergo a shoulder surgery which will him rule him out for four to six weeks.

Paceman Ashish Nehra was also not considered as he is recovering from finger injury sustained during the World Cup.

Ambati Rayudu, who has been a prolific scorer in the ongoing IPL, failed to get the nod with the selectors preferring to go the more experienced Badrinath.

Badrinath was rewarded with a berth in the squad for his excellent performance in the IPL and the domestic circuit. Badrinath has had a fantastic Ranji season scoring a whopping 922 runs at an average of 131 and he followed it up with 349 runs in the IPL so far.

Squad: Gautam Gambhir (C), Suresh Raina, Parthiv Patel (wk), Virat Kohli, Yuvraj Singh, S Badrinath, Rohit Sharma, Harbhajan Singh, R Ashwin, Praveen Kumar, Ishant Sharma, Munaf Patel, Vinay Kumar, Yusuf Pathan, Amit Mishra, Wriddhiman Saha.

source: PTI