Yuvraj dropped from ODI squad for New Zealand

NEW DELHI: Indian selectors on Tuesday dropped experienced allrounder Yuvraj Singh from the one-day international squad for an upcoming tour of New Zealand, which will consist of five ODIs and two Tests.

The 32-year-old left-hander, who was man of the series during India´s triumph at the 2011 World Cup at home, did not figure in the 16-member squad after scoring only one half-century in his last 12 one-day innings and also having little success with the ball.

Yuvraj has been having a turbulent time since the World Cup as he fought off a rare germ cancer to make a comeback last year. He was dropped for this year´s Champions Trophy that India won in England, before again figuring in one-day games against Australia, West Indies and South Africa.

Rookie seam bowler Ishwar Pandey was named in both the Test and one-day squads while pace bowler Varun Aaron made a comeback to the one-day squad after a gap of two years following a back injury.

Pandey has been prolific in domestic cricket with a tally of 131 wickets in 31 first-class games and 22 in 16 domestic one-dayers. A surprise entry in the one-day squad was 29-year-old allrounder Stuart Binny, the son of former India player Roger Binny, who was a member of the World Cup winning squad of 1983 and is presently a national selector.

In what was the only change to the Test squad that toured South Africa, left-arm spinner Pragyan Ojha made way for Pandey.

India´s tour of New Zealand starts with the first of five one-dayers in Napier on Jan. 19. The other ODIs will be played in Hamilton (Jan. 22), Auckland (Jan. 25), Hamilton (Jan. 28) and Wellington (Jan. 31).

India will then play a two-day practice game at Whangarei on Feb. 2-3 before the Test matches in Auckland (Feb. 6-10) and Wellington (Feb. 14-18).

India Test squad: Shikhar Dhawan, Murali Vijay, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Ajinkya Rahane, Mahendra Singh Dhoni (captain), Ambati Rayudu, Wriddhiman Saha, Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Zaheer Khan, Mohammed Shami, Ishant Sharma, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Umesh Yadav, Ishwar Pandey.

India One-day squad: Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Ajinkya Rahane, Ambati Rayudu, Suresh Raina, Mahendra Singh Dhoni (captain), Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Amit Mishra, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mohammed Shami, Ishant Sharma, Ishwar Pandey, Stuart Binny, Varun Aaron.
(AP)