Gurkeerat, Aravind earn India call against South Africa

Bengaluru, Sep 20:

Uncapped Punjab all-rounder Gurkeerat Mann was named in India’s One-Day International (ODI) squad for the upcoming home series against South Africa while uncapped Karnataka seamer S. Aravind was picked for the T20 internationals, the BCCI said on Sunday.

India will host South Africa for three T20s, five ODIs and four Test matches. The first competitive match is a T20, scheduled for October 2, at Dharamsala in Himachal Pradesh.

The Sandeep Patil-led BCCI selection committee met here on Sunday to pick the limited overs squads for the 72-day tour by South Africa. The ODI squad picked was for the first three matches.

Mann and Aravind were selected following their impressive performances with India A. The limited overs series will also witness the return of Mahendra Singh Dhoni as the skipper following Virat Kohli’s first series win as Test captain against hosts Sri lanka.

Seasoned all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja, dropped for the second-string side that played against Zimbabwe earlier this year, has been left out of the team again.

Seamer Dhawal Kulkarni, who was in the squad for the Bangladesh tour, was also omitted. Fellow pacer Umesh Yadav got in the ODI squad but another pacer, Varun Aaron, was dropped from both the squads.

Injured left-handed opener Shikhar Dhawan, who missed the last two Tests of the three-match series against Sri Lanka with a fractured finger, was named in both the squads.

Veteran off-spinner Harbhajan Singh was recalled to the T20 squad while leg-spinner Amit Mishra was named in both the squads after his impressive show in Sri Lanka. Mishra will replace leggie Karn Sarma for T20.

Fast bowler Mohammed Shami, sidelined with a knee injury he suffered during in Australia last year, was not included.

He is undergoing rehabilitation for the injury and has not played for India since the 2015 World Cup.

The squads:

T20Is: M.S. Dhoni, Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Suresh Raina, Ajinkya Rahane, Ambati Rayudu, Stuart Binny, R. Ashwin, Axar Patel, Harbhajan Singh, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mohit Sharma, Amit Mishra, S. Aravind.

First three ODIs: M.S. Dhoni, Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Ambati Rayudu, Suresh Raina, Ajinkya Rahane, Stuart Binny, R. Ashwin, Axar Patel, Gurkeerat Singh Mann, Amit Mishra, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mohit Sharma, Umesh Yadav. (IANS)