Yuvraj forces way back, but no place for other seniors in ODI team

There was no way Yuvraj Singh could have been kept out after his impressive showing with the bat for India 'A' and India Blue, says Harish Kotian.

As expected, Yuvraj Singh returned to India's squad for the One-day series against Australia following impressive performances in recent outings for India 'A' against West Indies 'A' and India Blue in the Challenger series.

The dashing left-hander, who last played for India against England in an ODI in Dharamsala last January, was recalled for the first Twenty20 International and three ODIs against Australia, starting October 10 in Rajkot.

While, it is learnt that the names of senior pros Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir did not even come up for discussion, there was no way Yuvraj could have been left out after having scored 337 runs in five List A matches, at an average of 67.40, with a highest score of 123 against the touring Caribbean side. He also scored a breezy 52 against the West Indies ‘A’ in a T20 game in Bangalore.

With his more than useful left-arm spin, it is certain that he will have a vital role with the ball to play in the middle overs.

Yuvraj was included in place of Dinesh Karthik, who did not have much to show -- save a fifty in the Champions Trophy -- since returning to the squad.

Not-too-good recent performances also cost opener Murali Vijay his place in the squad. He scored 30 against Sri Lanka and 27 against the West Indies in the tri-series in the Caribbean in July. The right-hander also failed to impress during India A's tour of South Africa, scoring 60 and 40 in the ODI series against Australia and South Africa respectively, while in the two unofficial Tests he managed 44, 4 and 0 against the Proteas.

So far, in the Champions League T20 he was unable to get going for Chennai Super Kings. He registered two ducks in the first two games before scoring 42 against the Brisbane Heats.

Another notable omission was that of pacer Umesh Yadav, who had a poor Challenger Series, in which he conceded 67 runs in 10 overs and a whopping 85 in nine in the two matches he played for India Red.

Bengal speedster Mohammed Shami, seasoned Karnataka seamer R Vinay Kumar and promising Saurashtra left-arm seamer Jaydev Unadkat were retained from the pace attack that played in the last international series in Zimbabwe.

Haryana pacer Mohit Sharma was dropped from the squad while Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Ishant Sharma returned after well-deserved rest.

Bhuvneshwar's inclusion too was on expected lines as he bowled India Blue to the Challenger Series triumph with a four-wicket haul in the final.

Young Jammu and Kashmir all-rounder Parvez Rasool made way for senior off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin while Amit Mishra held on to his place on the strength of the 18 wickets he bagged in the last series against Zimbabwe.

The reserve batsman's place in the squad was a battle between Ambati Rayudu and Ajinkya Rahane. In the end, Rayudu, who now plays for Baroda in the Ranji Trophy, who got the nod ahead of the Mumbai batsman.