Pujara gets the nod; Raina left out of the ODIs; Yuvi retains his place in T20s

The Indian put the axe on Suresh Raina’s shoulder for some not-up-to-the-mark performances in the recently finished one day match series against New Zealand. Instead the selectors opted for giving a call to Cheteshwar Pujara for the Asia Cup as Pujara has been performing quite consistently in the longest format of the game. Otherwise the selectors have decided to maintain almost the same squad that got a 4-0 hammering ion the hands of the Kiwis in their own backyard.

One of the notable omissions from the team is Ishant Sharma who failed to find a place in the Asia Cup squad as well as in the T20 squad. It came as quite a bit of surprise that Ishant Sharma lost his place in the team in spite of constant support from the captain and few selectors as well.

However both world cup winning team members Yuvraj Singh and Suresh Raina have not failed to retain their position in the T20 squad. In fact Yuvraj emerged as India’s saviour in the only T20 match that India played in the home series against Australia in last year. So no questions could be raised regarding retention of Yuvi in the T20 team.

Asia Cup XV: Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan, Virat Kohli, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane, Ambati Rayudu, Mahendra Singh Dhoni (wicket-keeper)(captain), Ravindra Jadeja, Stuart Binny, Ravichandran Ashwin, Amit Mishra, Varun Aaron, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mohammad Shami, Ishwar Pandey.

T20 World Cup XV: Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan, Virat Kohli, Ajinkya Rahane, Yuvraj Singh, Suresh Raina, Mahendra Singh Dhoni (wicket-keeper)(captain), Ravindra Jadeja, Stuart Binny, Ravichandran Ashwin, Amit Mishra, Varun Aaron, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mohammad Shami, Mohit Sharma.

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About Argha Ghosh

An ardent follower of sports and die-hard Manchester United fan, Argha's ultimate dream is to watch a Manchester derby from the Stretford End at the Old Trafford.