MS Dhoni rested; Kohli to lead India in first Test Against Australia KL Rahul has been rewarded for consistent performances in the domestic circuit, Karnataka opener KL Rahul, leg spinner Karn Sharma and wicket-keeper batsman, Naman Ojha Are the uncapped players included in the Test squad for Indias tour of Australia later this year. Skipper MS Dhoni has been rested for the first Test with Virat Kohli named as captain in his absence. Dhoni is nursing a forearm injury. The 19-man squad contains five pacers, three spinners and three wicket-keeper batsmen. Suresh Raina makes a comeback to the Test squad after a gap of two years. The left-hander has been in good form in ODI cricket but his technique particularly against the short ball had come under a lot of scrutiny previously. The southpaw had the backing of team director, Ravi Shastri, who had been quoted in the media citing the need to include Raina for Tests. Opener KL Rahul had impressed in the domestic circuit including twin tons in the recently concluded Duleep Trophy final. Karn Sharma, the rookie leg spinner, has been thrown in the deep sea as there were suggestions that a wrist spinner will have greater impact on the Australian pitches. Naman Ojha had a highly successful tour of Australia with the India A squad where he scored two hundreds. He had subsequently been drafted in as a back-up wicket-keeper for the last Test against England. Ojha has been included in the squad only for the first Test as a cover for Saha. He will return to India after Dhoni joins the squad. Gautam Gambhir has been dropped from the squad after repeated failures at the international level despite having scored decently at the domestic level. Stuart Binny, Ishwar Chand Pandey and Pankaj Singh are the others to miss out from the squad that toured England. India will play four Tests Down Under starting on December 4. They will also be playing two practice matches before the start of the Tests. Full squad: MS Dhoni (c), Virat Kohli, Shikhar Dhawan, Murali Vijay, KL Rahul, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane, Rohit Sharma, Suresh Raina, Wriddhiman Saha, Naman Ojha, Ravi Ashwin, Karn Sharma, Ravindra Jadeja, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mohammed Shami, Ishant Sharma, Umesh Yadav, Varun Aaron
Posted on: Mon, 10 Nov 2014 13:47:57 +0000
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