Pawan Negi in, Manish Pandey ignored for WT20

Pawan Negi in, Manish Pandey ignored for WT20

FPJ BureauUpdated: Friday, May 31, 2019, 06:24 PM IST
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New Delhi: BCCI secretary Anurag Thakur with BCCI chief selector Sandeep Patil addressing the media after a selection committee meeting to pick the Indian squad for T20 World Cup and Asia Cup tournaments, in New Delhi on Friday. PTI Photo by Kamal Singh (PTI2_5_2016_000061B) |

New Delhi : Uncapped young all-rounder Pawan Negi was the lone new face, while injury-prone pacer Mohammed Shami was also named in the 15-member Indian squad on Fridaday, as the selectors sought to strike a balance between youth and experience for the Asia Cup and the Twenty20 World Cup. A brilliant clean sweep against Australia ensured that the core of the team was left untouched by the selectors, who opted to retain veterans like Yuvraj Singh, Harbhajan Singh and Ashish Nehra.

 Young players such as Jasprit Bumrah and Hardik Pandya, who impressed in the recent series against Australia, also found a place in the squad announced by BCCI Secretary Anurag Thakur after a meeting of the selection committee here.

“This is the best combination of 15 we can think of,” Chairman of the committee, Sandeep Patil, said in a press conference after the meeting. The selectors have taken some risk by picking the 25- year-old Shami who is still undergoing rehabilitation for a hamstring injury. The latest breakdown, which happened during last month’s trip to Australia, came after a lengthy layoff forced by a knee injury. Shami has been picked subject to fitness and should he fail to recover, India would be allowed to name a replacement.

 “Shami has 30 days before the World T20. We have good time in our hand to take a call on Shami. He has been one of our best bowlers. For now, I can only say that he has recovered and started bowling,” he said. Among the ignored were the pace duo of Ishant Sharma and Bhuvneshwar Kumar. While Ishant has not represented India in this format since 2013, Bhuvneshwar endured a rather unimpressive run in Australia in the ODIs before injury forced him out of the T20s. Rising batsman Manish Pandey, who featured in the ODI series against Australia, was also left out of the team to be captained by Mahendra Singh Dhoni.

The Asia Cup is scheduled to be held in Bangladesh from February 24 to March 6, followed by the World T20 from March 8 to April 3 in India. Patil expressed his faith in Dhoni’s leadership despite the recent mixed run. “We have no right to tell people when to retire, we have total faith in Dhoni’s captaincy. He is the right person to lead in Asia Cup and World T20,” he said. The 23-year-old Negi, who bowls left-arm spin and is a decent batsman, was rewarded for his consistent performance in the domestic circuit. Negi was also a part of the suspended Chennai Super Kings team in the IPL. That Negi will be a contender for the World Cup team had become obvious when he was selected for the three-match series against Sri Lanka this month.

Ajinkya Rahane also found a place in the squad ahead of Pandey, who hit a match-winning century in the last ODI against Australia. Pandey got his break in Australia owing to an injury to Rahane and even though he made it count, the selectors opted to go with the more experienced player. “Manish Pandey performed exceptionally well in Australia, his name was also discussed,” Patil said.

Squads for World Twenty20 and Asia Cup: Mahendra Singh Dhoni (c), Rohit Sharma, Shikar Dhawan, Virat Kohli, Suresh Raina, Yuvraj Singh, Ajinkya Rahane, Ravindra Jadeja, Hardik Pandya, R Ashwin, Harbhajan Singh, Jasprit Bhumrah, Ashish Nehra, Pawan Negi, Mohd Shami.

‘I was expecting India call-up’

New Delhi: Young all-rounder Pawan Negi, who has been named in the 15-man Indian squad for the World T20 and Asia Cup, has said that he was expecting the call after being selected for the Sri Lanka series, which starts on Tuesday. “I was hopeful of being selected for the World T20 after being named in the squad for Sri Lanka series. If I get a chance to play in the tournament, my motive will be to make contribution with both bat and ball,” said Negi. “I have played under Dhoni for two years and he knows me as a cricketer and, therefore, I don’t think I will feel that much pressure in the team.

Ashwin welcomes inclusion of rookies for World T20

Gurgaon: Off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin on Friday welcomed the inclusion of Indian rookies Jaspreet Bumrah and Hardik Pandya in the squad for the upcoming Asia Cup and World T20, saying that they deserved to get a national call-up. “I think Bumrah and Pandya did really well. We won that series that pretty much gave us indication how good they were. I am very happy for them,” Ashwin told reporters. Talking about strategy for the T20 pinnacle tournament, the 29-year-old premier spinner said that the Mahendra Singh Dhoni-led side, which has recently concluded their tour to Australia with historic T20 series win, need to immediately adjust to the home conditions before the World Cup.  “We have to be back in India conditions. Somehow, the Indian conditions are very different; the grounds are smaller than what it was in Australia. Coming back to India we will have to match up again with the ground sizes, the wicket and the pace. It’s pretty much like going to be getting ourselves and try to take as many lessons as possible from Asia Cup.”

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