Rasool named in squad, Dhoni and other key players rested

Parveez Rasool today became the first player from Jammu and Kashmir to be named in the Indian cricket team as the selectors opted to rest captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni and four other top players for the five-match ODI series in Zimbabwe later this month.

Prolific batsman Cheteshwar Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane were also recalled in the 15-man squad to be led by young Virat Kohli who is currently leading the team in the West Indies following a hamstring injury to Dhoni.

Saurashtra pacer Jaydev Unadkat and Haryana speedster Mohit Sharma, who made an impression in the ILP-6 for the Chennai Super Kings, were also named in the squad announced by BCCI secretary Sanjay Patel after a meeting of the selection committee here.

Apart from Dhoni, pacemen Ishant Sharma, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Umesh Yadav and spinner Ravichandran Aswhin were also rested while Murali Vijay was dropped from the team.

The selectors also decided to ignore veterans like Gautam Gambhir, Virender Sehwag, Zaheer Khan, Praveen Kumar and preferred to go with youngsters for the Zimbabwe tour to be held from July 24 to August 3.

India will play five ODI matches during the series to be held in Harare and Bulawayo.
The selectors also picked the India A team for the tour of South Africa which will be captained by Pujara. The India A team also includes Rasool and a number of other youngsters like Shahbaz Nadeem, Siddharth Kaul, Ishwar Pandey and Stuart Binny.

Indian team for Zimbabwe:

Virat Kohli (captain),  Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit Sharma, Dinesh Karthik, Cheteshwar Pujara, Suresh Raina, Ambati Rayudu, Ajinkya Rahane, Ravindra Jadeja, Amit Mishra, Parveez Rasool, Mohammed Shami, Vinay Kumar, Jaidev Unadkat, Mohit Sharma.
India A team for tour of South Africa:

Cheteshwar Pujara (captain), Shikhar Dhawan, Murali Vijay, Rohit Sharma, Suresh Raina, Ambati Rayudu, Dinesh Karthik, Ajinkya Rahane, Wriddhiman Saha, Parvez Rasool, Shahbaz Nadeem, , Mohammed Shami, Stuart Binny, Ishwar Chand Pandey, Jaidev Unadkat, Siddharth Kaul.