Mumbai: India’s 15-member squad for this month’s Asia Cup has been announced and the biggest exclusion from the squad was the omission of Yuvraj Singh, who has been dropped owing to lack of form and fitness worries. The BCCI also accepted Sachin Tendulkar’s request to be rested for the Asia Cup and he has not been included in the squad for the tournament to be held in Sri Lanka.

Other notable exclusions from the squad which was knocked out of the tri-series in Zimbabwe without reaching the finals are all-rounder Yousuf Pathan, wicket-keeper batsman Dinesh Karthik and leg-spinner Amit Mishra.

The Jharkhand left-hander, Saurabh Tiwary, who made a huge impact in this year’s Indian Premier League playing for the Mumbai Indians has earned his maiden India call-up in a team that is significantly stronger than the one sent to Zimbabwe for the tri-series.

MS Dhoni returns to captain a team that will be bolstered by the return of Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Harbhajan Singh, Zaheer Khan, Praveen Kumar and Ashish Nehra.

Ashok Dinda, the Bengal fast bowler, and R Ashwin, the Tamil Nadu offspinner, who were part of the Indian squad for the tri-series in Zimbabwe, have been retained.

Tiwary was one of the finds for Mumbai Indians during the IPL this year, where he struck three fifties in their run to the final. That was preceded by a successful domestic season, where, playing for Jharkhand in the Ranji Trophy Plate League, he scored three centuries in five games at an average of 98.83.

The BCCI, in its media release, stated that Tendulkar wanted to spend time with his children, in view of the hectic schedule ahead, but gave no reason for the exclusion of Yuvraj, who has, of late, been struggling with a wrist injury and fitness problems. Yuvraj was also involved in a pub brawl after India was knocked out of the World T20 last month in West Indies.

Squad: MS Dhoni (capt & wk), Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Virat Kohli, Suresh Raina, Rohit Sharma, Ravindra Jadeja, Harbhajan Singh, Praveen Kumar, Zaheer Khan, Ashish Nehra, Pragyan Ojha, Ashok Dinda, R Ashwin, Saurabh Tiwary.

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