Ajinkya Rahane to lead India, Dhoni, Virat rested; Harbhajan, Uthappa make comeback for the tour of Zimbabwe

Ajinkya Rahane to lead India, Dhoni, Virat rested; Harbhajan, Uthappa make comeback for the tour of Zimbabwe: The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) selectors have announced the Indian cricket team for the tour of Zimbabwe. Middle order batsman Ajinkya Rahane has been given the responsibility of leading the team which has no regular seniors. Off-spinner Harbhajan Singh after an impressive outing in the one off test against Bangladesh has been called up for the tour; so has been Karnataka batsman Robin Uthappa.

Regular skipper MS Dhoni, his deputy Virat Kohli, openers Shikhar Dhawan and Rohit Sharma have all been rested for the tour. It was earlier predicted that all the senior players have asked for rest as most of them have been playing uninterrupted cricket for the last 8 months. Though the Chief of selectors Sandeep Patil had maintained that no player has requested for rest and everyone is available for selection, the team that has been picked is a mixture of a few regulars and others who have been in reckons but not in the XI.

Test opener Murli Vijay has been included in the squad and is most likely to open the innings, while the newly appointed skipper Rahane might well chose to accompany him. Maharashtra batsman Kedar Jadhav has been included in the squad as well, so has been Manoj Tiwari. Manish Pandey, Robin Uthappa, Harbhajan Singh are the other big names.

Team India will be playing 3 ODIs and 2 T20Is against Zimbabwe, all at Harare, the tour starts from July 10.

The Indian cricket team for the tour of Zimbabwe 2015-

Rahane (C), Vijay, Rayudu, Manoj, Kedar, Uthappa, Manish, Harbhajan, Axar, Karn, Dhawal, Binny, Bhuvi, Mohit, Sandeep

#TeamIndia for Zim: Rahane (C), Vijay, Rayudu, Manoj, Kedar, Uthappa, Manish, Harbhajan, Axar, Karn, Dhawal, Binny, Bhuvi, Mohit, Sandeep

— BCCI (@BCCI) June 29, 2015

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