Former Indian Cricket Captain Rahul Dravid makes a return to India’s ODI team for the tri-series in Sri Lanka and for the Champions Trophy next month. Rahul Dravid replaced Rohit Sharma, who managed 15 runs in three ODI innings in the West Indies and 43 runs in three innings against major opposition in the World Twenty20.

Also the selectors did not want to take risk including Virender Sehwag, who is yet to recover fully from his shoulder injury. He was not expected to make it to the Sri Lanka tri-series and now has been left out for the Champions Trophy as well.

Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid who have made a come back to the ODI squad

Master blaster Sachin Tendulkar, who opted out of the West Indies series, makes a comeback. Suresh Raina, who was out because of a hairline fracture of the thumb, also returns. Amit Mishra makes it into the ODI squad, replacing Pragyan Ojha as the back-up spinner to Harbhajan Singh. Dinesh Karthik and Abhishek Nayar have retained their places.

India’s ODI squad: Sachin Tendulkar, Gautam Gambhir, Rahul Dravid, Suresh Raina, Yuvraj Singh, MS Dhoni (capt/wk), Yusuf Pathan, Harbhajan Singh, Praveen Kumar, Ishant Sharma, Ashish Nehra, RP Singh, Amit Mishra, Dinesh Karthik, and Abhishek Nayar

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The struggling form of Indian captain – and most versatile batsman – and how to compensate for it? Can we expect Dhoni return to his form against England?

India’s strength is that every one of their players is capable of winning a match through individual brilliance. Even the loss of one of the world’s most dangerous openers was overcome by a middle-order batsman making the transition to the top of the order seamlessly. They have tried to fortify that advantage with flexibility by attempting to shuffle the middle order according to how the openers fare.

Between Rohit Sharma and Gautam Gambhir, Rohit has been the more aggressive batsman and so India have sent in MS Dhoni at No. 3 should Gambhir fall first to steady one end while Rohit attacks at the other. And if Rohit should be dismissed first, like against West Indies, Suresh Raina will take up the attacking role at No. 3. It’s an excellent plan, for a fluid batting order keeps the opposition guessing and batsmen versatile enough to slot into different roles are valuable in the Twenty20 format. The problem, however, is Dhoni’s loss of form.

Dhoni has batted in various positions from No. 2 to 8 and, when in form, he’s played different roles – from sheet anchor to aggressor – successfully. He even considered opening in the World Twenty20 before offering Rohit the job in Virender Sehwag’s absence. In recent times, Dhoni has taken up the responsibility of guiding the innings, holding one end up, scoring at a run-a-ball, letting the other shot-makers attack before joining them.

India have had to manage without a significant contribution from Dhoni so far in this tournament. He struggled during the IPL and carried that indifferent form to England, scoring 6, 9*, 26 and 14 during the warm-ups and group matches. Dhoni batted at No. 3 during those matches ahead of more in-form batsmen.

Teams:
England: PD Collingwood, JM Anderson, RS Bopara, SCJ Broad, JS Foster, RWT Key, AD Mascarenhas, EJG Morgan, GR Napier, KP Pietersen, AU Rashid, OA Shah, RJ Sidebottom, GP Swann, LJ Wright

India: MS Dhoni, Yuvraj Singh, G Gambhir, Harbhajan Singh, RA Jadeja, KD Karthik, Z Khan, P Kumar, PP Ojha, IK Pathan, YK Pathan, SK Raina, I Sharma, RG Sharma, RP Singh

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India’s opening batsman Virender Sehwag has been ruled out of the ongoing ICC Twenty20 World Cup in England due to a shoulder injury.

Sources said Sehwag was advised to undergo a surgery for his shoulder injury.

The hard-hitting batsman, earlier, had to skip the opening match against Bangladesh including all the practice matches.

After Sehwag’s initial injury, Dhoni gambled with Rohit Sharma as Gautam Gambhir’s partner to open the innings. Rohit played well in the opening slot, and now, Rohit Sharma is likely to open for India in all the matches of the Twenty20 World Cup in England.

The BCCI named Dinesh Karthik as his replacement in India’s 15-member squad. Karthik is expected to arrive in London ahead of India’s first Super Eights match against the West Indies at Lord’s on Friday.

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