Champions Trophy: Sehwag, Pujara, Zaheer dropped from probables list

India’s selectors  have  left out batsman Virender Sehwag and spinners Harbhajan Singh and Pragyan Ojha from a 30-man preliminary squad for the Champions Trophy in England in June. The list has been shortened to 15 players a month before the one-day tournament opens on June 5. Apart from  the above three, paceman Zaheer Khan and batsman Cheteshwar Pujara  were also left out from the list of probables announced by BCCI secretary Sanjay Jagdale. According to ESPN, focus on youth is evident with the inclusion of uncapped players who’ve made a mark in recent times. India’s Under-19 captain Unmukt Chand, who plays for Delhi, has been named, so has allrounder Parvez Rasool from Jammu and Kashmir, who picked up seven wickets against the Australians in a tour game this year. [caption id=“attachment_688795” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] This is the latest in a line of setbacks for Sehwag, who has scored 8,273 runs, including 15 centuries, in 251 One-Day Internationals.[/caption] Sehwag’s 219 against the West Indies in December 2011 is the highest individual score in one-day internationals and he is only the second batsman to score a double-century in the shorter format after compatriot Sachin Tendulkar. But he was dropped due to recent poor form. The 34-year-old, who has scored 8,273 runs in 251 ODIs with 15 centuries, was also been left out of the last two Tests in the recent series against Australia, which India won 4-0. Harbhajan, 32, last played an ODI two years ago in the West Indies, while Zaheer, 34, missed the entire Australian series due to a calf injury. India are drawn with South Africa, Pakistan and the West Indies in group B of the Champions Trophy, from which the top two will qualify for the semifinals. The other group comprises England, Australia, New Zealand and Sri Lanka. India’s 30-man preliminary squad: Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Murali Vijay, Shikhar Dhawan, Gautam Gambhir, Unmukt Chand, Virat Kohli, Yuvraj Singh, Suresh Raina, Rohit Sharma, Manoj Tiwary, Ajinkya Rahane, Ambati Rayudu, Kedar Jadhav, Wriddhiman Saha, Dinesh Karthik, Ravichandran Ashwin, Amit Mishra, Ravindra Jadeja, Jalaj Saxena, Parvez Rasool, Ishant Sharma, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Ashok Dinda, Umesh Yadav, Shami Ahmed, Irfan Pathan, Vinay Kumar, Praveen Kumar, Ishwar Pandey, Sidharth Kaul. Agencies