Yuvraj axed from Test squad, Pujara included

MUMBAI - Flambuoyant left-hand batsman Yuvraj Singh was dropped while temperamental fast bowler Sreesanth was included in the Test squad for the two-Test series against Australia starting Oct 1.

Yuvraj, who has been out of form, has been replaced by prolific scorer from Saurashtra Cheteshwar Pujara in the 15-member squad announced here Monday. Yuvraj will lead the Rest of India for the Irani Trophy against Mumbai.

Yuvraj missed the second Test against Sri Lanka in July due to fever and failed to make the squad for the third Test after his replacement Suresh Raina smashed a century on debut.

Opener Gautam Gambhir, spinner Harbhajan Singh and paceman Zaheer Khan, have all recovered from their injuries, and were included in the squad, said Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) secretary N.Srinivasan in a statement.

Zaheer missed the series against Sri Lanka due to a shoulder injury and comes in place of Munaf Patel. Gambhir also missed the second and the third Tests due to a swelling in his knee.

Sreesanth, who was set to make a comeback with the Test series against Sri Lanka, was ruled out just before the start of the tour after his knee gave way. Sreesanth has now fully recovered and is ready to share the pace attack with Zaheer.

Abhimanyu Mithun and Wriddhiman Saha, who toured Sri Lanka, also failed to find a place in the squad against Australia.

The first Test will be played in Mohali from Oct 1 and the second will start in Bangalore from Oct 9.

Teams:

India: Mahendra Singh Dhoni (captain), Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar, V.V.S. Laxman, Suresh Raina, Harbhajan Singh, Amit Mishra, Zaheer Khan, Ishant Sharma, Sreesanth, Pragyan Ojha, Murali Vijay and Cheteshwar Pujara.

Rest of India (for Irani Trophy): Yuvraj Singh (captain), Abhinav Mukund, Shikhar Dhawan, Virat Kohli, Subramaniam Badrinath, Saurabh Tiwary, Parthiv Patel, Piyush Chawla, R.Ashwin, Jaydev Unadkat, Umesh Yadav, Vinay Kumar, Manish Pandey, Abhimanyu Mithun and Ravindra Jadeja.