Harbhajan Singh Makes a Comeback to the Indian Squad for Bangladesh Tour

Harbhajan Singh Makes a Comeback to the Indian Squad for Bangladesh Tour: With the Bangladesh tour scheduled immediately after the conclusion of IPL, the BCCI has opted to include the senior pros spinner Harbhajan Singh for the tour. As a matter of fact, it will be MS Dhoni who will be leading the side for the 3 One Day Internationals to be held from 18^th June.

Coming to the ODI squad, Dhawal Kulkarni makes a comeback after being excluded from the World Cup squad. He has been included in the team following his decent performances in the Ranji Trophy which he complemented with some brilliance for the RR in the IPL. The squad is pretty much similar to the one that featured in the World Cup. The only one missing is Mohammad Shami is out with an injury. This is a  reflection of the fact that the Board has given acute preference for the series over the fitness issues of the players, especially the senior pros.

As a result, we are to witness the same opening combination of Rohit and Dhawan in the ODI series followed by the expertise of Kohli, Rahane, Raina, and Dhoni in the middle order. Ravindra Jadeja has been provided with yet another opportunity to prove his worth in the team, which comes in as a surprise considering the poor run he had throughout the World Cup and has been little effective for CSK in the IPL.

India’s ODI squad for the tour of Banglades:

MS Dhoni (Captain), Rohit Sharma, Ajinkya Rahane, Shikhar Dhawan, Virat Kohli, Suresh Raina, Ambati Rayudu, Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Bhuvaneshwar Kumar, Umesh Yadav, Mohit Sharma, Stuart Binny, Dhawal Kulkarni.

Test Series:

In the lone test to be played from June 10^th, Virat Kohli will be leading the side as expected. While the selectors continued their faith on the opening combination of Dhawan and Murali Vijay for the tour. Though Dhawan has struggled to perform in tests off late but he has been given yet another chance. At the same time, the Bengal wicket-keeper, Wriddhiman Saha will be filling in for MS Dhoni as the wicket keeper of the team. The middle order of the batting line up is quite much similar to the one that had been to Australia with the likes of Rohit Sharma, Lokesh Rahul, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane and skipper Kohli himself.

The prime selection in the squad is perhaps the inclusion of the veteran off-spinner, Harbhajan Singh. Owing to his majestic performances in the IPL for MI, the Turbanator has been given a chance to make a comeback for the team and this is definitely a positive selection. The other two spinners in the squad are R Ashwin and Karn Sharma.

Among the faster bowlers, Ishant Sharma will lead the Indian pace attack, coming back from an injury, which saw him miss the World Cup in Australia and New Zealand. The other pacers in the squad are: Bhuvaneshwar Kumar, Umesh Yadav and Varun Aaron.

Indian team for the Test Series in Bangladesh:

Virat Kohli (Captain), Murali Vijay, Shikhar Dhawan, Lokesh Rahul, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane, Rohit Sharma, Wriddhiman Saha, Ravichandran Ashwin, Harbhajan Singh, Karn Sharma, Bhuvaneshwar Kumar, Umesh Yadav, Varun Aaron, Ishant Sharma.