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Dhoni to lead Twenty-20 team

Last updated on: August 07, 2007 20:16 IST
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Wicketkeeper Mahendra Singh Dhoni will lead India in the inaugural Twenty-20 World Cup in South Africa, from September 11 to 24. Yuvraj Singh will be his deputy.

India will be without Test captain Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar and Sourav Ganguly, who all opted out of the tournament, while pace spearhead Zaheer Khan has been rested.

Delhi opener Virender Sehwag, all-rounder Irfan Pathan and off-spinner Harbhajan Singh are in the 15-man team.

Pace bowler S Sreesanth, who has been named in the Twenty-20 squad, has been rested for the seven-match ODI series in England, beginning August 21. Munaf Patel, ignored for Test series and the preceding one-dayers against Ireland and South Africa because of a lower back injury sustained in Bangladesh in May, will replace him.

The four selectors -- Sanjay Jagdale, Bhupinder Singh Sr., Venkatapathy Raju and Ranjib Biswal -- had a teleconference with selection committee chairman Dilip Vengsarkar in London before finalising the teams.

Twenty-four year-old Baroda-based Yusuf Pathan's inclusion in the Twenty20 squad is on expected lines as he has the ability to hit the ball long and hard and bowl fast off-breaks, but Joginder Sharma's came as a bolt from the blue.

The 23-year-old Rohtak-born player had represented India in four ODIs, the last being against the West Indies at Cuttack in the 2006-07 season.

With four seasoned players being rested, Sehwag's inclusion was very much on the cards while Harbhajan Singh forced his way back with some impressive performances for Surrey in the English County Championship.

'This could be the start of a new Harbhajan Singh'

Squads:

Twenty-20 World Cup: Mahendra Singh Dhoni (captain), Yuvraj Singh (vice-captain), Virender Sehwag, Harbhajan Singh, Ajit Agarkar, Dinesh Kaarthick, Gautam Gambhir, Robin Uthappa, Joginder Sharma, Yusuf Pathan, Piyush Chawla, S Sreesanth, Irfan Pathan, Rudra Pratap Singh and Rohit Sharma.

England ODIs: Rahul Dravid (captain), Mahendra Singh Dhoni (vice-captain), Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly, Yuvraj Singh, Ramesh Powar, Dinesh Karthick, Zaheer Khan, Munaf Patel, Piyush Chawla, Rudra Pratap Singh, Rohit Sharma, Robin Uthappa, Gautam Gambhir and Ajit Agarkar.

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