National selectors, led by K. Srikkanth, have appointed flamboyant batsman Gautam Gambhir as Captain and Suresh Raina as Vice-Captain for the Indian ODI squad that will undertake a tour of the West Indies.
The selectors also recalled some of the successful IPL players to the national team at its meeting on Friday in Chennai.
Captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni, opening batsman Sachin Tendulkar and opening bowler Zaheer Khan were being rested and they will be made available for the Test series. Another opener Virender Sehwag was not considered for selection as he is scheduled to undergo surgery for his shoulder injury.
Tamil Nadu batsman S. Badrinath, Bengal wicketkeeper Wriddhimaan Saha, Karnataka paceman Vinay Kumar, Amit Mishra, Rohit Sharma and Ishant Sharma have been recalled to the ODI team. Now, they will also be the part of the 16-member team which will leave for the West Indies.
The Indian team will begin the West Indies tour with a Twenty20 match on June 4 followed by five ODIs, starting on June 6. The three Tests are scheduled from June 20.
While everyone thought that Ambati Rayudu of AP, a prolific scorer in the ongoing IPL, would also get a berth in the ODI team, the selectors preferred more experienced Badrinath to him.
The Squad:
Gautam Gambhir (Captain), Suresh Raina (Vice-Captain), Parthiv Patel (Wicketkeeper), Virat Kohli, Yuvraj Singh, S Badrinath, Rohit Sharma, Harbhajan Singh, R Ashwin, Praveen Kumar, Ishant Sharma, Munaf Patel, Vinay Kumar, Yusuf Pathan, Amit Mishra, Wriddhiman Saha.
