Rohit replaces Yuvraj for Mumbai Test vs Windies

Rohit Sharma will replace Yuvraj Singh in India's team for the third and final Test against the West Indies, beginning in Mumbai, on November 22.

Middle-order batsman Sharma was rewarded for consistent performances in the domestic circuit.

In the only change in the squad that won the second Test at the Eden Gardens on Thursday by an innings and 15 runs, the selectors drafted him in place of the Punjab batsman, who scored only 66 runs in the three innings he played in the first two Tests of the ongoing series.

With spinners Ravichandran Ashwin and Pragyan Ojha doing well, Harbhajan Singh was again overlooked.

Yuvraj scored 23 and 18 in the first Test at the Ferozshah Kotla, while 25 was all that he could gather on a batting paradise at the Eden Gardens.

The exclusion could well mean curtains for the soon-to-be 30 southpaw who won the Player of the Tournament award in the last World Cup.

Rohit has been rewarded for back-to-back centuries against Railways and Rajasthan in the Ranji Trophy.

While the elegant batsman scored 175 on a turner at the Karnail Singh Stadium in Delhi, he smashed a quickfire 100 against Rajasthan in Mumbai's last Ranji match.

Rohit missed out on a Test cap in 2010 after a freak injury while playing football during practice at the VCA ground in Jamtha an hour before the Test against South Africa could begin.

With the No 6 slot vacant, it will be a tussle between Virat Kohli, Ajinkya Rahane and Rohit.

The squad: Mahendra Singh Dhoni (captain), Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar, VVS Laxman, Rohit Sharma, Ishant Sharma, R Ashwin, Pragyan Ojha, Umesh Yadav, Virat Kohli, Ajinkya Rahane, Rahul Sharma, Varun Aaron.