Kohli to captain in first Test against Australia in place of injured Dhoni

Virat Kohli will lead India in the opening Test of an upcoming four-match series in Australia after regular captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni was diagnosed with a wrist injury. “MS Dhoni has been rested for the first Test as a prophylactic measure to ensure optimum recovery,” the Board of Control for Cricket in India said in a statement on Monday. “He will join the team from the second test onwards and will lead the team for the rest of the test series.” [caption id=“attachment_1796123” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Dhoni has been named captain but won’t play the first Test. Reuters[/caption] The 19-man squad includes two other wicketkeepers, Wriddhiman Saha and Naman Ojha, but it is expected that Ojha will return to India once Dhoni has recovered. That is likely to be for the second test. The selection committee, which met in Mumbai, named rookie batsman Lokesh Rahul as the third opener, after Murali Vijay and Shikhar Dhawan, and included leg spinner Karn Sharma for the first time. The 22-year-old Rahul, who toured Australia earlier this year with the India A side, was picked ahead of more experienced openers like Gautam Gambhir and Virender Sehwag because of his superb recent form. He scored a century in each innings in the Duleep Trophy final this month playing for South Zone against Central Zone. The Duleep Trophy is considered to be a class above the national Ranji Trophy tournament because it involves the best players from each of the five zones. Left-hand batsman Suresh Raina was recalled to the Test squad after more than two years while Gambhir was one of four players dropped from the side that toured England in July-August. India will play Test matches at Brisbane (December 4-8), Adelaide (December 12-16), Melbourne (December 26-30) and Sydney (January 3-7). The Tests will be followed by a one-day tri-series, also featuring England, before the World Cup is co-hosted by Australia and New Zealand from February 14-March 29. Recent series for the Gavaskar-Border trophy have been lop-sided affairs. Australia beat India 4-0 during the 2011-12 series Down Under, but was itself humiliated by the same margin when it visited India for a similar four-Test series in 2013. India has struggled to perform in away series in recent years with its most recent loss being a 3-1 defeat in England this July-August. India was due to play three home Tests against the West Indies this season, but the games were cancelled when the visitors withdrew, after playing four one-day internationals, because of a pay dispute with the West Indies Cricket Board. The teams are as follows: Indian team for the last two matches against Sri Lanka: 1. Virat Kohli (captain) 2. Ajinkya Rahane 3. Rohit Sharma 4. Ambati Rayudu 5. Suresh Raina 6. Robin Uthappa 7. Axar Patel 8. Karn Sharma 9. R. Ashwin 10. Umesh Yadav 11. Dhawal Kulkarni 12. Stuart Binny 13. Vinay Kumar 14. Kedar Jadhav Shikhar Dhawan and Ravindra Jadeja have been rested for the last two matches. Indian team for the Test series in Australia 1. M.S.Dhoni 2. Virat Kohli 3. Shikhar Dhawan 4. Murali Vijay 5. K.L. Rahul 6. Cheteshwar Pujara 7. Ajinkya Rahane 8. Rohit Sharma 9. Suresh Raina 10. Wriddhiman Saha 11. Naman Ojha 12. R. Ashwin 13. Karn Sharma 14. Ravindra Jadeja 15. Bhuvaneshwar Kumar 16. Mohd. Shami 17. Ishant Sharma 18. Umesh Yadav 19. Varun Aaron