Young Punjab allrounder Gurkeerat Singh Mann on Sunday earned his maiden call-up into the Indian ODI team while Karnataka left-arm seamer Srinath Aravind was a surprise inclusion in the T20 squad picked by the selectors for the limited-overs leg of the upcoming home series against South Africa.
The Sandeep Patil-led selection committee announced the teams for the three T20s and the first three one-day internationals against the Proteas starting October 2 at Dharamsala.
MS Dhoni was retained as skipper for both formats by the BCCI in teams that did not have too many surprises.
Interestingly, veteran spinner Harbhajan Singh was included in the T20 team, which has a new face in the form of S Aravind.
T20Is: MS Dhoni, Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Suresh Raina, Ajinkya Rahane, Ambati Rayudu, Stuart Binny, R Ashwin, Axar Patel, Harbhajan Singh, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mohit Sharma, Amit Mishra, S Aravind.
The 25-year-old Gurkeerat, who plays for Kings XI Punjab in the Indian Premier League, was rewarded with a place in the ODI team for his consistent performance for India A.
Limited-overs captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni was back at the helm after a break of almost three months while senior offspinner Harbhajan Singh was retained in the T20 squad for his decent show during the tour of Zimbabwe.
Legspinner Amit Mishra’s good show against Sri Lanka was also rewarded as he found a place in both the squads.
Opener Shikhar Dhawan, recuperating from a hand fracture he suffered during the first Test against Sri Lanka last month, was also included in both the squads.
Barring Gurkeerat and Aravind’s inclusion, there were no major surprises with the selectors preferring to stick with recent pool of players who have done well for India.
All-rounder Ravindra Jadeja was a notable omission in both the squads while pacers Ishant Sharma, considered only for Tests of late, was not considered. Also not finding a place in the squad was Varun Aaron, while Mohammad Shami is still recovering from his knee injury.
