Yuvraj returns for Australia series

Chennai, Sep 30 (IANS) Rewarded for his recent good form, all-rounder Yuvraj Singh was Monday recalled in the Indian team for the first three One-day Internationals of a seven-match series and a one-off Twenty20 against the touring Australia.

The selection committee of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) announced the 15-man squad for the series here Monday, making four changes in the squad that won the Champions Trophy in June.

Yuvraj, Ambati Rayudu, Mohammed Shami and Jaydev Unadkat have been picked in place of Murali Vijay, Dinesh Karthik, Irfan Pathan and Umesh Yadav.

Other seniors like Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir and Harbhajan Singh will have to wait for their return to the national fold.

Yuvraj comes to the side after scores of 84, 52, 61, 40 and 123 in the series against West Indies A and Challenger Trophy. His last international match was an ODI against England in Dharamsala in January.

Fast bowlers Shami and Unadkat have been rewarded for their impressive show in the five-match series in Zimbabwe.

The axe for speedster Yadav is surprising though he proved expensive in the Challenger Trophy. Wicket-keeper Karthik was overlooked against Rayudu, who averaged more than 50 runs in Zimbabwe. Opener Vijay could not retain his place while Irfan Pathan is injured.

Off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin replaces Parvez Rasool, who misses out after the Zimbabwe stint alongside Cheteshwar Pujara, Mohit Kumar and Ajinkya Rahane.

India will play a T20 and seven ODIs against Australia but selectors decided to pick the squad only for the initial three games.

The T20 will be played in Rajkot, Oct 10. The first three ODIs will be hosted in Pune (Oct 13), Jaipur (Oct 16), and Mohali (Oct 19).

India squad: Mahendra Singh Dhoni (captain), Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Yuvraj Singh, Suresh Raina, Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Ishant Sharma, Vinay Kumar, Amit Mishra, Ambati Rayudu, Mohammed Shami, Jaydev Unadkat.