Harbhajan still out as India retain squad

Wednesday, 19 October 2011 00:04 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

New Delhi (AFP): Leading spinner Harbhajan Singh continued to be ignored as India on Tuesday retained their winning squad for the three remaining one-dayers at home against England.

The fit-again off-spinner was one of seven World Cup stars to miss out for the first two games as the injury-ravaged world champions attempted to rebuild after a poor tour of England.

The new-look side defied expectations by beating Alastair Cook's tourists easily in both games, winning the first in Hyderabad by 126 runs and the second in New Delhi by eight wickets.

The remaining matches will be played in Mohali on Thursday, Mumbai on Oct 23 and Kolkata on October 25.

Harbhajan, 31, had been a regular member of the Indian team since his debut in 1998, claiming 406 wickets in 98 Tests and 259 wickets in 229 one-day internationals.

Skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Gautam Gambhir, Virat Kohli and Suresh Raina remain the only survivors from the side that defeated Sri Lanka in the World Cup final in Mumbai on April 2.The selectors also picked hard-hitting batsmen Robin Uthappa and Yusuf Pathan for the lone Twenty20 international against England in Kolkata on October 29.

Gambhir, who is due to be married after the one-day series, opted out of the T20 game, the cricket board said in a statement.

One-day squad for last three matches: Mahendra Singh Dhoni (capt), Gautam Gambhir, Parthiv Patel, Ajinkya Rahane, Virat Kohli, Manoj Tiwary, Suresh Raina, Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Rahul Sharma, Varun Aaron, Umesh Yadav, Vinay Kumar, Sreenath Aravind, Praveen Kumar.

Twenty20 squad for Oct 29 match: Mahendra Singh Dhoni (capt), Suresh Raina, Ajinkya Rahane, Virat Kohli, Yusuf Pathan, Robin Uthappa, Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Praveen Kumar, Vinay Kumar, Umesh Yadav, Manoj Tiwary, Rahul Sharma, Sreenath Aravind.