Gambhir retained as captain for rest of New Zealand series

MUMBAI - Gautam Gambhir has been retained as the India captain for the remaining three One-day Internationals against New Zealand.

The senior selection committee that met Thursday also decided to include fast bowling spearhead Zaheer Khan for the rest of the series. Zaheer missed the third Test and the first two ODIs with a groin strain. Praveen Kumar, who missed the first two ODIs because of a fever, also made a comeback.

The Indian selectors also decided to give some rest to batsman Suresh Raina and fast bowler Sreesanth. The two players will be flying to South Africa early before the Test series that starts December 16.

Mumbai batsman Rohit Sharma, who was dropped after the tri-series in Sri Lanka in August, also makes a comeback, but only for the fourth and the fifth ODI. Since Rohit is playing in a Ranji Trophy game against Gujarat in Valsad, he would not play in the third ODI that would be held in Vadodara, Dec 4.

Medium-pacer R.Vinay Kumar will be released from the team after the third ODI for Karnataka’s Ranji Trophy matches. Wicketkeeper Parthiv Patel also has been included in the side for the last two ODIs and will replace Wriddhiman Saha.

Teams:

For 3rd ODI: Gautam Gambhir (captain), Murali Vijay, Virat Kohli, Yuvraj Singh, Sourav Tiwary, Yusuf Pathan, Wriddhiman Saha (wicketkeeper), Ravichandran Ashwin, Zaheer Khan, Ashish Nehra, Praveen Kumar, Munaf Patel, Ravindra Jadeja and R. Vinay Kumar

For 4th and 5th ODIs: Gautam Gambhir (captain), Murali Vijay, Virat Kohli, Yuvraj Singh, Sourav Tiwary, Yusuf Pathan, Parthiv Patel (wicketkeeper), R.Ashwin, Ashish Nehra, Munaf Patel, Zaheer Khan, Praveen Kumar, Ravindra Jadeja, Rohit Sharma