Shami, Pragyan Ojha among 30 probables for South Africa series

Pacer Mohammad Shami, who is recuperating after shoulder surgery, and left-arm spinner Pragyan Ojha, back with a re-modelled action, are among 30 players named by the Board of Control for Cricket in India’s senior selection committee for a preparatory camp ahead of the South African team's upcoming tour of India.

Shami was out of the reckoning after the ICC Cricket World Cup following knee surgery and missed India's away series against Sri Lanka and Bangladesh, and the last Indian Premier League season.

Left-arm spinner Ojha is looking to regain his place in the squad. Having had his re-modelled action cleared by the ICC, he came up with a good showing while playing for India ‘A’ against Australia ‘A’ and is currently touring Sri Lanka with the Bengal team.

The likes of Gautam Gambhir, Yuvraj Singh, Robin Uthappa and Virender Sehwag were not even considered for the probables’ list, indicating that they are out of the mix as far as selection to the senior team is concerned.

The list comprises 12 specialist batsmen, three wicketkeepers, one all-rounder and 14 bowlers, including eight fast and six spinners.

In the case of Shami and Wriddhiman Saha, their fitness will be assessed ahead of the gruelling 72-day series, which includes four Tests, five ODIs and three T20 Internationals.

The camp will be held in Bengaluru from September 21 to 27.

The probables:

Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Virat Kohli, Shikhar Dhawan, Murali Vijay, K L Rahul, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane, Rohit Sharma, Stuart Binny, Wriddhiman Saha, Naman Ojha, Ravichandran Ashwin, Amit Mishra, Harbhajan Singh, Ishant Sharma, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Umesh Yadav, Varun Aaron, Karun Nair, Suresh Raina, Mohammed Shami, Axar Patel, Pragyan Ojha, Ravindra Jadeja, Mohit Sharma, Karn Sharma, Ambati Rayudu, Dhawal Kulkarni, Kedar Jadhav, Manish Pandey.

Image: Mohammad Shami

Photograph: BCCI