Rahane to lead India in Zimbabwe; Dhoni, Kohli among senior players rested

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) announced that Ajinkya Rahane will captain the India side on its tour of Zimbabwe. India is scheduled to play three ODIs and two T20s in Zimbabwe, starting July 10.

While senior players were expected to be rested due to fatigue, the decision to hand over captaincy to Ajinkya Rahane comes on the back of the Mumbai batsman losing his place in the Indian team in the ODI series defeat against Bangladesh.

Chairman of Selectors Sandeep Patil said, “We are happy with the way his career is shaping up. He has been the most consistent batsman for India and we want to see his other aspects. So, we have given him this opportunity and we will keep backing him.

Senior players that have been rested for the series include Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Virat Kohli, Suresh Raina, Rohit Sharma, Ravichandran Ashwin and Umesh Yadav.

Sandeep Patil, confirmed that CSK all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja has been dropped from the squad and not rested.

“The Indian team did not do well in Bangladesh, we felt the same. (But) we have to move forward and considering the domestic cricket to be played, we have picked this side, looking at the 2016 T20 World Cup,” Sandeep Patil told reporters.

“We had picked the best possible team that played at the World Cup and keeping the future series in mind, whether it is Sri Lanka, or South Africa home series, Twenty20 World Cup or the Australia series, we have decided to rest a few players who need urgent rest,” added Patil.

Harbhajan Singh, who recently made his Test comeback against Bangladesh in the one-off match in Fatullah, has made a return to the ODI squad as well. The off-spinner who last played a ODI for India in 2011, will be senior-most player on the tour.

“We cannot say on long term basis but looking at Harbhajan’s performance in the last series, we feel that he deserves a chance on this tour,” Patil said.

“The selectors’ job is to pick the best possible combination. The rest is left to the team management. Once we select the team, it is left to the captain to make up the playing XI,” he added.

BCCI secretary Anurag Thakur also confirmed that Team Director Ravi Shastri will not be travelling with the squad to Zimbabwe confirming reports from earlier, owing to professional commitments that he had had agreed upon before the BCCI offered him a two-year contract extension.

Murali Vijay, Robin Uthappa and Manoj Tiwary are some of the other fringe players given a chance in this series. Robin Uthappa is the only recognised wicket-keeper to be named in the squad.

After comments from Dhoni about taking a decision of choosing between fast bowlers and bowlers who can bowl line and length, the squad comprises of medium-fast bowlers, with Umesh Yadav and Varun Aaron not figuring in the squad.

(Clarification: Umesh Yadav and Varun Aaron are part of the India A squad though.)

The selectors also announced the India A squad for a home tri-series against Australia A and South Africa A, which begins on July 19. Chetheswar Pujara has been named captin for Rahul Dravid’s first assignment as the coach of the India A side.

India squad for Zimbabwe: Ajinkya Rahane (C), Murali Vijay, Ambati Rayudu, Manoj Tiwary, Kedar Jadhav, Robin Uthappa, Manish Pandey, Harbhajan Singh, Axar Patel, Karn Sharma, Dhawal Kulkarni, Stuart Binny, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mohit Sharma, Sandeep Sharma.

India A squad: KL Rahul, Abhivan Mukund, Cheteshwar Pujara (C), Karun Nair, Shreyas Iyer, Naman Ojha, Vijay Shanker, Amit Mishra, Pragyan Ojha, Shardul Thakur, Varun Aaron, Abhimanyu Mithun, Umesh Yadav, Shreyas Gopal, Baba Aparjit.

With inputs from PTI