Jadeja, Binny in World Cup team; Yuvi, Uthappa ignored

An injured Ravindra Jadeja and young left-arm spinner Axar Patel were named in India’s 15-member squad for the cricket World Cup in Australia and New Zealand, starting next month.

All-rounder Stuart Binny and batsman Ambati Rayudu were also included in the squad announced by Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) secretary Sanjay Patel.
The selectors, however, ignored Yuvraj Singh, who was not in the list of the 30-member probables but had come into reckoning after his three back-to-back centuries in the ongoing Ranji Trophy.

Opener Shikhar Dhawan, who struggled in the Test matches against Australia, has been retained in the squad even as the selectors ignored Murali Vijay, Robin Uthappa and Manoj Tiwary for the event to be held from February 14 to March 29.

The 20-year-old Axar Patel, who has made a reasonably good impression in the few ODIs he has played, was expectedly picked in the squad, considering that Jadeja’s fitness could be an issue.

The team, to be captained by M S Dhoni, has no major surprises, with the selectors opting to go with four specialist pace bowlers — Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mohammad Shami, Ishant Sharma and Umesh Yadav — considering the pacy wickets in Australia and New Zealand.

“Jadeja at present is undergoing rehabilitation. He is doing wonderfully well. We had a detailed discussion with BCCI physio (on his inclusion), and we are confident that he will return to training within 10 days,” Patel said on Jadeja’s fitness.

Patel said Yuvraj’s name was deliberated upon, but they decided against selecting him.
“Not only Yuvraj Singh but other names were also discussed apart from the 30 probables. There were deliberations between five selectors, and captain Dhoni and coach Duncan Fletcher were on the conference call,” Patel said.

The selectors also announced the team for the tri-series to follow the Test matches in Australia. Apart from India and Australia, England will be the third team. Besides the 15 selected for the World Cup, Dhawal Kulkarni and Mohit Sharma have been included for the series.

Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan and Ajinkya Rahane can perform the role of opener, while Kohli, Suresh Raina, Rayudu and Dhoni will bat in the middle order.

The squad has three spinners in R Ashwin, Patel and Jadeja, though it is highly unlikely that more than two spinners will be in the playing XI.