Virender Sehwag, Harbhajan Singh and an injured Munaf Patel were on Tuesday axed from both the one-day international and Test squads for the upcoming tour of Ireland and England, while Mahendra Singh Dhoni was appointed vice-captain for the one-dayers.
Veterans Sachin Tendulkar and Sourav Ganguly, who were rested for the one-day series in Bangladesh last month, were included in the 15-member one-day squad.
Chairman of selectors Dilip Vengsarkar defended Dhoni’s elevation and said, “He is a thinking cricketer. We wanted to promote him and so decided to appoint him as vice-captain for the series.”
Tendulkar was retained as vice-captain in the Test squad that is to visit England in July.
“Tendulkar has vast experience in both forms of the game and that’s why we decided to retain him,” Vengsarkar said.
The team for the seven one-day internationals towards the end of August against England would be announced later.
Ajit Agarkar got a one-day international recall, replacing the injured Munaf Patel. “Munaf is not 100 percent fit and that’s why he missed out,” Vengsarkar sa-id.
He, however, assured that Zaheer Khan had regained his fitness and has been named in both the squads.
Mumbai batsman Rohit Sharma is the lone new face in the one-day squad.
Meanwhile, Bengal pacer Ranadeb Bose replaced VRV Singh in the squad for the three-match Test series against England, while Delhi pacer Ishant Sharma retained his place.
On dropping Sehwag and ignoring Harbhajan, Vengs-arkar said it was not the end of the road for the duo.
“There is a lot of domestic cricket and Sehwag can definitely make a comeback if he does well. I would say the same thing about Harbhajan. He has got all the chances to come back into the side.”
Sehwag had already been dropped from the Test side that played in Bangladesh last month, and he didn’t help his cause at all by not cashing in on starts in the one-day series, though in his last international, he made a half-century for Asia XI in the Afro-Asia Cup game against an African XI.
Harbhajan had been omitted from both the Test and one-day squads during the Bangladesh tour.
Vengsarkar said Dinesh Kaarthick’s inclusion was an ideal choice for the long tour as the youngster provided an extra option both as opener and wicket-keeper.
Vengsarkar said Bose was rewarded with a berth for his impressive form in domestic cricket last year when he emerged as the highest wicket-taker.
“Besides, conditions in England would be conducive to his bowling,” Vengsarkar said.
India will play three one dayers against South Africa in Ireland between June 26 and July 1, followed by a one-off ODI against Pakistan in Glasgow, Scotland, on July 3.
They then move to England for a full series of three Tests and seven ODIs between July 19 and September 8.