Yuvraj, Harbhajan named in Test squad

Reuters: India have named Yuvraj Singh in their squad for the first two tests against England, marking the all-rounder’s return to the five-day game following treatment for cancer.

Yuvraj, who will turn 31 next month, underwent chemotherapy in the United States for a rare form of lung cancer earlier this year.

He returned to international cricket in September in a Twenty20 match against New Zealand before playing in the World Twenty20 in Sri Lanka.

The swashbuckling left-hander smashed a double hundred in his return to first-class cricket last month, and then took five wickets to add to a half-century against England in a warm-up game last week.

Yuvraj, who played the last of his 37 tests in November 2011, will be the favourite to seal the number six slot in the Indian batting order when the first of four tests against England begins in Ahmedabad on November 15.

Experienced off-spinner Harbhajan Singh, who was dropped after the England tour last year for poor form, was added to the squad along with off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin and left-arm tweaker Pragyan Ojha.

Squad: Mahendra Singh Dhoni (captain), Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Murali Vijay, Cheteshwar Pujara, Sachin Tendulkar, Virat Kohli, Yuvraj Singh, Ajinkya Rahane, Ravichandran Ashwin, Pragyan Ojha, Harbhajan Singh, Zaheer Khan, Umesh Yadav, Ishant Sharma.