Gurkeerat, Aravind get maiden call ups for South Africa series

Young Punjab all-rounder Gurkeerat Singh today earned his maiden call-up into the Indian ODI team while Karnataka left-arm seamer Srinath Aravind was a surprise inclusion in the T20 squad picked by the selectors for the limited overs leg against South Africa. [caption id=“attachment_2440034” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Gurkeerat Singh today earned his maiden call-up into the Indian ODI team. PTI[/caption] The Sandeep Patil-led selection committee announced the teams for the three T20s and the first three One day Internationals against the Proteas starting October 2 at Dharamsala. Limited overs captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni was back at the helm while senior off-spinner Harbhajan Singh was retained in the T20 squad for his consistent show during the tour of Zimbabwe. However, left-arm spinner Ravindra Jadeja was once again ignored as the selectors decided to persist with young Axar Patel. Leg-spinner Amit Mishra’s good show against Sri Lanka was also rewarded as he found a place in both the squads. Opener Shikhar Dhawan, recuperating from a hand fracture he suffered during the first Test against Sri Lanka last month, was also included in both the squads. After being rested for the Zimbabwe tour, seniors such as Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Ravichandran Ashwin and Suresh Raina were automatic selections in both squads and so were the likes of Ambati Rayudu and Mohit Sharma. While Umesh Yadav has been included in the ODI squad, Varun Aaron was not considered for selection in any of the squads. Squads: T20Is: MS Dhoni (captain and wk), Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Suresh Raina, Ajinkya Rahane, Ambati Rayudu, Stuart Binny, R Ashwin, Axar Patel, Harbhajan Singh, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mohit Sharma, Amit Mishra, S Aravind. 1st 3 ODIs: MS Dhoni (captain and wk), Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Ambati Rayudu, Suresh Raina, Ajinkya Rahane, Stuart Binny, R Ashwin, Axar Patel, Gurkeerat Singh Mann, Amit Mishra, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mohit Sharma, Umesh Yadav. PTI