India announce 15-man World Cup squad; Yuvraj ignored, Binny included

India’s 15-man World Cup squad announced

The Indian selectors have announced the 15-man squad for the upcoming World Cup in Australia and New Zealand. Stuart Binny and Ishant Sharma find a place in the 15, while Varun Aaron and Robin Uthappa miss out.

The selectors have opted for a balance of 6 specialist batsmen, 3 all-rounders, 5 bowlers and just the lone wicketkeeper.

The selectors have preferred a third spinner in the squad in the form of Akshar Patel, despite the tournament being held in Australia and New Zealand, rather than opting for another seam bowler. Meanwhile, Rayudu’s ability to fill in behind the stumps in case of an injury to skipper MS Dhoni has gone against Uthappa, who was widely expected to make the squad as the reserve wicketkeeper.

India’s World Cup Squad

Batsmen: MS Dhoni (capt), Virat Kohli, Shikhar Dhawan, Suresh Raina, Ajinkya Rahane, Rohit Sharma, Ambati Rayudu

All-rounders: Ravindra Jadeja, Akshar Patel, Stuart Binny

Bowlers: Mohammed Shami, Ravichandran Ashwin, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Ishant Sharma, Umesh Yadav

The 30-man preliminary squad had been announced by the Sandeep Patil-led selection committee just over a month earlier and saw big names such as Yuvraj Singh, Virender Sehwag, Zaheer Khan, Harbhajan Singh and Gautam Gambhir miss out. However, there were hopes of Yuvraj being a last-minute inclusion in the squad which hasn’t turned out to be the case.

India’s opening game of the World Cup is against arch-rivals Pakistan at the Adelaide Oval on February 15.

India’s squad for tri-series against Australia and England

The squad for the upcoming tri-series involving Australia and England sees seamers Mohit Sharma and Dhawal Kulkarni also included in addition to the World Cup 15.

India begin their tri-series campaign against hosts Australia at the MCG on January 18. The tournament should provide ideal preparation to the visitors ahead of the World Cup, and also provide India the opportunity to experiment with their playing combinations if they wish to.

Squad: MS Dhoni (capt), Virat Kohli, Ajinkya Rahane, Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit Sharma, Stuart Binny, Suresh Raina, Ravindra Jadeja, Ambati Rayudu, Akshar Patel, Ravichandran Ashwin, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mohammed Shami, Umesh Yadav, Mohit Sharma, Ishant Sharma, Dhawal Kulkarni