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03/07/10 | Return | Print |

Yuvraj recalled for Sri Lanka Tests

India go to Sri Lanka next month to play three Tests and a triangular series involving New Zealand. Australia then tour India to play two Tests and three one-dayers during the month of October. New Zealand then tour India to play three Tests the next month before the team flies to South Africa in December for a full tour that ends less than a month before the World Cup.

The national selection committee, which met here on Saturday, decided to recall Yuvraj Singh for the three-Test series in Sri Lanka. Fitness, more than form, was seen as the reason behind the move as he hadn't been in droppable form in international cricket. The drop was seen as a necessary wake-up call for him. Captain MS Dhoni, however, is a big fan of Yuvraj's talent, and could have insisted that he be recalled. The selectors perhaps thought that the necessary message had been delivered.

The selectors appear to have answered those questions by picking Yuvraj as one of eight specialist batsmen in the 16-member squad.

The return of Yuvraj and Dravid has forced S. Badrinath out. The middle-order batsman from Tamil Nadu again finds himself at the wrong end of a difficult decision with the selectors preferring Suresh Raina, who was part of the squad for the second Test against South Africa in Kolkata. Badrinath made a gutsy half-century on debut in difficult conditions against Dale Steyn and Morne Morkel in Nagpur. But single-digit scores in his two other innings and Raina's consistent performance in the limited-overs arena appear to have cost Badrinath.

The only other change to the squad selected for the Kolkata Test is the inclusion of Wriddhiman Saha as captain M.S. Dhoni's understudy with the gloves. Saha, who was dropped after making his debut as a batsman in the first Test against South Africa following Rohit Sharma's freak injury on the morning of the match, replaces the man who had replaced him in the squad for the second Test — Dinesh Karthik.

The selectors chose to retain the bowling unit picked against South Africa although two of its members, Ishant Sharma and Sreesanth, lost favour in the shorter forms of the game. India will look to reverse the result of its last Test series in Sri Lanka, which it lost 1-2. The first Test gets underway in Galle on July 18. The second and third Tests, both to be played in Colombo, are scheduled to start on July 26 and August 3 respectively.

Meanwhile Cricket Australia has agreed to the BCCI's proposal to convert the seven-match ODI series scheduled for October to two Tests and three ODIs. The first Test will be at Mohali starting on October 2nd then to Bangalore for the second Test, followed by three one-day matches to be held in Kochi, Goa and Vishakapatnam.

This is not the first time the Indian board has made changes to a tour itinerary. Earlier this year, Cricket South Africa agreed to replace a five-match ODI series with two Tests and three ODIs. The board's determination to schedule more Tests has come in the wake of India ascending to the No.1 Test ranking for the first time.

The BCCI also announced the schedule for New Zealand's tour of India in November. The teams will play three Tests and five ODIs. The first Test starts on November 4 and will be played in Ahmedabad. The second and third Tests will be played in Kanpur (November 12) and Mumbai (November 20). The schedule for the ODIs will be decided later based on logistics but the venues are Bangalore, Mohali, Chennai, Guwahati and Hyderabad.