By IANS
Mumbai : As was widely expected, dashing batsman-cum-wicketkeeper Mahendra Singh Dhoni was Tuesday named India’s captain for the first Twenty20 World Championship in South Africa in September.
Dhoni will also be the vice-captain of the squad that will play seven One-day Internationals (ODIs) against England and a lone ODI against Scotland, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) announced. Each squad has 15 players.
The four selectors, plus chairman Dilip Vengsarkar – who was connected by telephone from England – also recalled Virender Sehwag, Irfan Pathan and Harbhajan Singh, all omitted from the team now playing the Test series in England.
Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar and Sourav Ganguly, the three most experienced players, had earlier requested the board not to consider them for the Twenty20 tournament, and in-form pacer Zaheer Khan has been rested. The tournament will held in Johannesburg, Durban and Cape Town from September 10-24.
Yusuf Pathan, 24, is the lone player in the Twenty20 squad who has not represented India in an international match. He joins his younger brother Irfan, now touring Kenya and Zimbabwe with the India ‘A’, to make it a happy occasion for the Vadodara-based family.
However, Mohammad Kaif, now leading India ‘A’, and his Uttar Pradesh team-mate Suresh Raina were again ignored.
Yuvraj Singh, once seen as a future captain before Dhoni overtook him with his consistent performances, was named vice-captain of the Twenty20 side that also has Robin Utthappa, Ajit Agarkar and pacer Joginder Sharma, who has again got an opportunity to prove himself at the international level.
Gautam Gambhir, Dinesh Karthik and Piyush Chawla are the other prominent names in the squad.
There is only one change in the ODI squad. Fit-again lanky pacer Munaf Patel has replaced Sreesanth, whose bowling in the two Tests so far has been uneven.
Before the ODIs against England start in Southampton Aug 21, India will play a one-off ODI against Scotland in Glasgow Aug 16.
Squads:
For Twenty20 World Championship: Mahendra Singh Dhoni (captain/wicketkeeper), Yuvraj Singh (vice-captain), Gautam Gambhir, Virender Sehwag, Dinesh Karthik (wicketkeeper), Irfan Pathan, Rohit Sharma, Robin Utthappa, Yusuf Pathan, Ajit Agarkar, Joginder Sharma, Piyush Chawla, Harbhajan Singh, Sreesanth and Rudra Pratap Singh
For ODIs vs. England and Scotland: Rahul Dravid (captain), Mahendra Singh Dhoni (vice-captain), Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly, Robin Utthappa, Yuvraj Singh, Gautam Gambhir, Rohit Sharma, Dinesh Karthik, Ramesh Powar, Ajit Agarkar, Zaheer Khan, Piyush Chawla, Rudra Pratap Singh and Munaf Patel