Gambhir, 2011 hero Yuvraj omitted from World Cup probables

Friday, 5 December 2014 01:38 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

Virender Sehwag, Yuvraj Singh, Zaheer Khan, Gautam Gambhir and Harbhajan Singh have been omitted from the 30-member preliminary squad for the World Cup picked by India’s selectors on Thursday. It has been almost a year since any of them made the ODI side. Manoj Tiway makes the cut after highly productive showings in the Deodhar Trophy, Manish Pandey has been rewarded for consistent performances from the IPL last year to the Vijay Hazare Trophy in March and Kedar Jadhav, who made his debut in the Sri Lanka series, is also among 10 batsmen who have been chosen. Ashok Dinda’s potential in the final overs might have persuaded the selectors to keep him in their plans. Left-arm chinaman bowler Kuldeep Yadav features among seven spinners led by R Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja. Ishant Sharma, who was not part of the team in 2011, might have a chance to play his first World Cup. There weren’t many other surprises, although Cheteshwar Pujara was not seen as a viable limited-overs prospect again. India go to Australia with four wicketkeepers in MS Dhoni, Wriddhiman Saha, Sanju Samson and Robin Uthappa, which meant Dinesh Karthik became surplus. Vinay Kumar, who had led Karnataka to three trophies last season and the Vijay Hazare title in March, could not find a place either Dhoni, Virat Kohli, Suresh Raina and Ashwin were the only survivors from the squad that won the 2011 World Cup. India’s 30-man squad Batsmen Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit Sharma, Ajinkya Rahane, Virat Kohli, Suresh Raina, Ambati Rayudu, Kedar Jadhav, Manoj Tiwary, Manish Pandey, M Vijay Fast bowlers Ishant Sharma, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mohammed Shami, Umesh Yadav, Varun Aaron, Dhawal Kulkarni, Stuart Binny, Mohit Sharma, Ashok Dinda Spinners R Ashwin, Parvez Rasool, Karn Sharma, Amit Mishra, Ravindra Jadeja, Akshar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav Wicketkeepers MS Dhoni, Robin Uthappa, Sanju Samson, Wriddhiman Saha