By IANS
Mumbai : Swashbuckling batsman Mahendra Singh Dhoni was Tuesday picked to succeed Rahul Dravid as India’s captain for the One-day International home series against Australia and Pakistan, and Irfan Pathan and Harbhajan Singh were recalled to the side.
Dhoni, 26, is currently leading India at the Twenty20 World Championship in South Africa. Dravid, who opted out of the Twenty20, made himself unavailable for the captaincy after his tenure ended with the recent tour of England.
Announcing a 15-member team for the first three ODIs against Australia at a press conference here, cricket board secretary Niranjan Shah said Yuvraj Singh, who is senior to Dhoni, would be the vice-captain.
“We thought he was the best man for the job. He is a good (Twenty20) captain and it is the right time to groom him,” said Dilip Vengsarkar, chairman of the selection committee.
Rohit Sharma, Ajit Agarkar and Munaf Patel, who were part of the team that recently toured England, were dropped for the first three matches, to be played in Bangalore (Sep 29), Kochi (Oct 2) and Hyderabad (Oct 5).
The team for the remaining four one-dayers will be announced later.
Referring to speculation that Sachin Tendulkar had declined to lead the ODI team, Vengsarkar said “no one was offered the captaincy” before Dhoni was finally picked up.
Interestingly, Dhoni will lead the side that has three former skippers – Dravid, Tendulkar and Sourav Ganguly.
But Vengsarkar tried to look at the positive side of the issue. “He would have three former captains who would give him full support.”
A hard-hitting batsman who can change his game according to the situation, the Ranchi-based Dhoni has played 84 ODIs since making his debut against Bangladesh at Dhaka in 2004 and has scored 2,477 runs at 44.23. In 20 Tests, he has scored 1,019 runs at an average of 36.39.
Board president Sharad Pawar, who approved the team, endorsed the choice of Dhoni and the team as a whole.
“Anything that takes the team forward should be welcomed. We also have to see that the young generation is given opportunity and if the captain is also young that’s good,” he said.
The seven-match One-day International series against Australia will be played from Sep 29 to Oct 17.
The Pakistani team will visit India for five ODIs and three Test matches to be played between Nov 6 and Dec 12.
The captain for the Test series will be named later, said Vengsarkar.
On the recall of left-arm pacer Pathan and off-spinner Harbhajan, both of whom are playing in the Twenty20 World Championship, he said they have performed admirably to merit a recall.
“They have done well in the Twenty20 World Championship and they deserve it. Irfan is a fine all-rounder and we will see his performance in the first few one-dayers,” he said.
On Virender Sehwag, who is also playing in South Africa but was again ignored for the ODIs, Vengsarkar said that since the team was only for three matches, “he will get his opportunity” later in the series.
On pacer Munaf Patel’s exclusion, Vengsarkar said: “He stands a chance but he has to prove his fitness.”
Team: Mahendra Singh Dhoni (captain/wicket keeper), Yuvraj Singh (vice captain), Rahul Dravid, Sourav Ganguly, Sachin Tendulkar, Gautam Gambhir, Dinesh Karthik, Robin Uthappa, Irfan Pathan, Harbhajan Singh, Sreesanth, Piyush Chawla, Ramesh Powar, Zaheer Khan and Rudra Pratap Singh
Itinerary for ODIs vs Australia:
1st ODI: M. Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bangalore, Sep 29
2nd ODI: Nehru Stadium, Kochi, Oct 2
3rd ODI: Gymkhana Ground, Hyderabad, Oct 5
4th ODI: Nehru Stadium, Guwahati, Oct 8
5th ODI: IPCL Sports Complex, Vadodara, Oct 11
6th ODI: Vidarbha C.A. Ground, Nagpur, Oct 14
7th ODI: Brabourne Stadium, Mumbai, Oct 17
Itinerary for ODIs vs Pakistan:
1st ODI: Nahar Singh Stadium, Faridabad, Nov 6
2nd ODI: Mohali/Chandigarh, Nov 9
3rd ODI: Green Park, Kanpur, Nov 12
4th ODI: Capt. Roop Singh Stadium, Gwalior, Nov 15
5th ODI: Sawai Mansingh Stadium, Jaipur, Nov 18