Senior players didn't ask for break, says Srikkanth

The national selection committee took a last-minute decision to rest captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni for the five-match ODI series in the West Indies. It is learnt that Dhoni had not requested for a break, and was eying a second honeymoon of sorts with wife Sakshi, in the Caribbean. It is learnt that Dhoni was keen on playing three ODIs, before handing the gloves to Parthiv Patel.


Mahendra Singh Dhoni

"None of the senior players wrote to us or requested for leave. We realised that there are seven tough Tests (against West Indies and England) in the next three months. It's important for all our senior players to be in top fitness," chairman of selectors, Krishnamachari Srikkanth told MiD DAY.

"Zaheer, Tendulkar and Dhoni will be available for the Tests. Sehwag's availability is subject to fitness," he said, before adding: "The rest of the squad picked itself. Don't forget, this is a World Champion side."

As expected, Subramaniam Badrinath and Rohit Sharma came into the side for Sachin Tendulkar and Virender Sehwag; Ishant Sharma for S Sreesanth, while Amit Mishra was recalled to the ODI squad. Vinay Kumar and Praveen Kumar were also named in the squad for one-off T20 and five ODIs.

It's unlikely that Saha will get a game with Parthiv expected to open the batting alongside Gautam Gambhir. The decision to leave out Murali Vijay mainly came after his poor performance in South Africa.
"He was found wanting in South Africa (during the ODIs). We felt it's a better option to have Parthiv since he's an opener," said a selector. Sreesanth and Piyush Chawla were dropped for a poor World Cup showing.

The Squad
India's T20 and ODI squad: Gautam Gambhir (captain), Suresh Raina (vice-captain), Parthiv Patel, Virat Kohli, Yuvraj Singh, Subramaniam Badrinath, Rohit Sharma, Harbhajan Singh, Ravichandran Ashwin, Praveen Kumar, Ishant Sharma, Munaf Patel, Vinay Kumar, Yusuf Pathan, Amit Mishra, Wriddhiman Saha.