A successful IPL season backed by decent domestic performances has helped veteran Indian off-spinner Harbhajan Singh to come back into the Indian Test team which will be playing a one-off Test against Bangladesh from June 10-14 at Fatullah cricket ground. Harbhajan last played for India in 2013.
“Harbhajan Singh was picked after considering the number of left-handers in Bangladesh team,” chief selector Sandeep Patil said in a press conference on Wednesday.
“We discussed a lot of spin options. Captain and selectors thought that Harbhajan Singh was right choice,” he added.
India will also be playing three ODIs in Mirpur starting June 18. The full-strength squads for the one-off Test and the three ODIs were announced on Wednesday by the selection panel.
MS Dhoni will lead the ODI team while Virat Kohli will continue to be the Test captain.
Test Squad
Virat Kohli (C), Murali Vijay, Shikhar Dhawan, KL Rahul, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane, Rohit Sharma, Wriddhiman Saha, Ravichandran Ashwin, Harbhajan singh, Karn Sharma, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Umesh Yadav, Varun Aaron, Ishant Sharma
ODI squad
MS Dhoni (c), Rohit Sharma, Ajinkya Rahane, Shikhar Dhawan, Virat Kohli, Suresh Raina, Ambati Rayudu, Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Umesh Yadav, Mohit Sharma, Stuart Binny, Dhawal Kulkarni
Regarding the revival of Indo-Pak series, BCCI secretary Anurag Thakur said that the talks were at an initial stage and nothing is finalised yet.
When a question was raised regarding the recent IPL controversy involving Virat Kohli meeting actress Anushka Sharma during a rain-break, Thakur replied, “We have done everything that needs to be done as per rules.”
It was widely reported that many players had requested a break from the Bangladesh tour, but Patil said he received no such requests from any player.
Online Sources