Windies ODIs: Dhoni, Tendulkar rested; Sehwag to lead

Sachin Tendulkar's wait for his elusive 100th international ton will get a little longer, as the selectors decided to rest him and skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni from India's upcoming ODI series against the West Indies.

Virender Sehwag was named captain of the 15-member squad, which does not include Yuvraj Singh, who has declared himself unfit.

There was again no place for out-of-form spinner Harbhajan Singh, while Parthiv Patel will replace Dhoni in the squad, announced by Board of Control for Cricket in India secretary Sanjay Jagdale, after a meeting of the selection committee in Mumbai on Friday.

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According to a media statement from the BCCI, Yuvraj declared himself unfit and was thus not considered for selection.

Reliable sources say the dashing all-rounder may undergo surgery for a lung ailment.

The squad announced is for the first three ODIs, to be played at Cuttack (November 29), Vizag (December 2) and Ahmedabad (December 5).

The decision to rest Dhoni was on the cards, as he has been playing in all formats of the game without a break, while Tendulkar has not played in ODIs since the World Cup final.

They were rested keeping in mind the gruelling tour of Australia in December.

"Dhoni has been rested for all five matches as he has played a lot of games," Krishnamachari Srikkanth, chairman of the selection committee, told reporters after the meeting.

He was non-committal, though, about Tendulkar playing in the last two matches.

It is unlikely that batting ace will play in the last two games too considering that some senior members of the team are may leave a week earlier for Australia.

Srikkanth said the squad was selected keeping in mind the tour Down Under.

"Performance of the youngsters, like Varun Aaron, Umesh Yadav, R Ashwin and Virat Kohli, augurs well for India cricket," he said.

The squad, otherwise, has a predictable look, most of the players who played against England being retained.

Stand-in captain Sehwag will be playing his first ODI since the World Cup final in April, while Gautam Gambhir will be looking to cash in on his good form and get a big score.

The likes of Suresh Raina, Virat Kohli, Ajinkya Rahane form a strong middle-order, and fast bowlers Varun Aaron and Umesh Yadav, and India's man of the moment R Ashwin will try to cement their places in the squad with a good showing in the series.

Seamers Praveen Kumar, R Vinay Kumar, left-arm spinner Ravindra Jadeja, Bengal skipper Manoj Tiwary, wicketkeeper-batsman Parthiv Patel -- all of whom were a part of the squad that thrashed England 5-0 in the home series retained their places.

Young leg-spinner Rahul Sharma, who was part of the squad for the past 45 days, has also been retained, and will, hopefully, make his international debut in the series.

The squad: Virender Sehwag (captain), Gautam Gambhir, Virat Kohli, Suresh Raina, Rohit Sharma, Ajinkya Rahane, Manoj Tiwary, Parthiv Patel (w/k), Ravindra Jadeja, Rahul Sharma, R Ashwin, Praveen Kumar, Umesh Yadav, Varun Aaron, R Vinay Kumar.