Young left arm spinner and lower middle order batsman Ravindra Jadeja with his brilliant performance in domestic arena allowed him to find his spot in Indian 15 member squad announced today for the tour of Sri Lanka.
Delhi right hand batsman Virat Kohli is not included in the squad while off-spinner Harbhajan Singh will miss the tour due to an injury. Praveen Kumar is also included in the 15-member squad.
Indian selector announced the 15 member squad during the meeting held in Mumbai on 18th of January, Sunday. They have included seven specialist batsmen in their team including the captain M.S.Dhoni.
The five ODIs and a Twenty20 match in Sri Lanka would also test the all-round ability of Ravindra Jadeja, Yusuf Pathan and Praveen Kumar. In the absence of Harbhajan Singh the spin department will lead by left arm spinner P.Ojha with support from Y.Pathan and R.Jadeja.
Indian team will play five match one day series and one twenty20 international against the home team. First ODI match will be played on 28th of January in Dambulla Stadium. Second, third and fourth ODI will be played at R.Premdasa Stadium on 31st of January, 3rd of February and 5th of February. Last ODI will be played on 8th of February at S.S.C Ground. India will end their tour with one twenty20 International which is scheduled to be played on 10th of February at R.Premdasa Stadium.
All matches will be day/night encounter except the first and fifth one day international.
Indian 15 member Squad for ODI and T20I against Sri Lanka: Mahendra Singh Dhoni (Captain & WK), Virender Sehwag (Vice Captain), Sachin Tendulkar, Gautam Gambhir, Yuvraj Singh, Suresh Raina, Rohit Sharma, Ravindra Jadeja, Yusuf Pathan, Praveen Kumar, Irfan Pathan, Munaf Patel, Ishant Sharma, Pragyan Ojha, and Zaheer Khan.
