Same squad to remain for final two ODIs: BCCI

VADODARA: Virender Sehwag and Suresh Raina will continue to remain on the sidelines with the national selectors on Thursday retaining the same 15-member squad for the sixth and seventh one-day cricket matches against Australia.

With India trailing the seven-match series 1-3, the selectors decided not to introduce a rotation policy and go in with the unchanged squad for the remaining two ODIs to be played at Nagpur (October 14) and Mumbai (October 17).

While Irfan Pathan and Harbhajan Singh were recalled for the ongoing series against Australia by virtue of their performance in the twenty20 World Cup, Sehwag was ignored despite having hit some good knocks in South Africa.

Chief selector Dilip Vengsarkar had said that Sehwag would be given a chance during the series as part of the rotation policy.

Raina, who has been out of the team for some time due to injury and lack of form, will also have to wait for his comeback to the national team.

Paceman Munaf Patel, who put in an outstanding performance in the Irani Trophy match, was also not considered by the selectors while Mohammad Kaif also failed to find a place in the squad.

Squad: Mahendra Singh Dhoni (Captain), Yuvraj Singh, Sourav Ganguly, Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, Dinesh Kartik, S Badrinath, Robin Uttappa, Irfan Pathan, RP Singh, Rohit Sharma, Murali Kartik, Zaheer Khan, S Sreesanth, Harbhajan Singh.