Kolkata: India’s prolific opening batsman Gautam Gambhir has been ruled out of the upcoming three-match ODI series against South Africa, due to a groin injury while Tamil Nadu off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin was rewarded for his consistent performance in the domestic circuit with a place in the 15-member squad announced for the first two ODIs.

The 23-year-old Ashwin, who is also a handy lower-order batsman, is the only new face in the squad which also sees the comeback of explosive Baroda all-rounder Yusuf Pathan. Pathan has been in blistering form in the domestic season and won the Duleep Trophy for West Zone with a sensational unbeaten 210.

Mumbai all-rounder Abhishek Nayar also forced his way back into the squad announced by BCCI secretary N Srinivasan after a selection committee meeting here.

Seasoned off-spinner Harbhajan Singh has made himself unavailable, since he had to attend his sister’s wedding while dashing batsman Yuvraj Singh has also not been considered as he has not recovered from a wrist injury.

“Harbhajan Singh has declared himself unavailable for the first two ODIs due to personal reasons. Gautam Gambhir is also not available for the ODI series due to groin injury,” a BCCI release said.

The selection of Ashwin was very much on the cards after Harbhajan had made himself unavailable. The Tamil Nadu spinner has so far captured 103 wickets in 28 first class matches for an average of 29.43. As a batsman, Ashwin has scored two centuries and six half-centuries in his aggregate of 1085 runs.

Saurashtra all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja, who has been banned for one year from playing in the Indian Premier League, has been retained in the team along with Uttar Pradesh paceman Sudeep Tyagi.

Sachin Tendulkar and Virender Sehwag are the two openers while Virat Kohli, Suresh Raina and Karthik are the middle order batsmen along with Dhoni.

Zaheer Khan will spearhead the pace attack, with Delhi pacer Ashish Nehra, Tyagi and Pravin Kumar joining him.

Ishant Sharma, meanwhile, hasn’t found a place in the squad for the first two games. Bengal pacer Ashok Dinda and left-arm spinner Pragyan Ohja, who were part of the squad for the tri-series in Bangladesh, have been axed.

The first ODI will be played in Jaipur on February 21 while Gwalior will host the second match on February 24. The three-match series will end in Ahmedabad on February 27.

Squad: MS Dhoni (Captain), Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag, Virat Kohli, Dinesh Karthik, Suresh Raina, Ravindra Jadeja, R Ashwin, Zaheer Khan, Ashish Nehra, Sudeep Tyagi, Praveen Kumar, Abhishek Nayar, Yusuf Pathan, Amit Mishra.

Tagged with: Gautam Gambhir, India, Kolkata, ODI Series, R Ashwin, South Africa, Squads, Yusuf Pathan

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