Gambhir dropped from Indian Test squad

Gambhir dropped from Indian Test squad
Shikhar Dhawan named in squad for first two Tests against Australia.


Struggling opening batsman Gautam Gambhir has been axed from the Indian Test squad for the first two matches against the visiting Australians.

Zaheer Khan, whose form and fitness has been suspect, was the other notable absentee in the squad of 15 while Harbhajan Singh also returns to the squad.

Entering the Test squad are opening batsman Shikhar Dhawan from Delhi and seamer Bhuvaneshwar Kumar from Uttar Pradesh.



SQUAD: MS Dhoni, Virender Sehwag, Shikhar Dhawan, Cheteshwar Pujara, Sachin Tendulkar, Virat Kohli, Ravindra Jadeja, Harbhajan Singh, Ravichandran Ashwin, Pragyan Ojha, Bhuvaneshwar Kumar, Ajinkya Rahane, Ashok Dinda, Murali Vijay and Ishant Sharma.

Gambhir dropped; Vijay, Dhawan roped in

Gautam Gambhir has been dropped from India's squad for the first two Tests against Australia. Two opening batsman - Tamil Nadu's M Vijay and Delhi's Shikhar Dhawan, both of whom opened the innings for Rest of India in the ongoing Irani Cup match - have been included in the squad.

Harbhajan Singh, who was dropped from India's Test squad for the fourth match against England, has been included as the third spinner along with R Ashwin and Pragyan Ojha and replaces Piyush Chawla who was dropped.

Bhuvneshwar Kumar impressive run in the limited-overs formats has been been rewarded with a Test berth. Ishant Sharma and Ashok Dinda are the other two pace-bowling options.

Ajinkya Rahane, who scored 83 in the first innings of the Irani Cup match, has retained his place in the squad while Suresh Raina's first-innings hundred and a half-century in the second innings failed to earn him a recall.

Squad: MS Dhoni (capt), Virender Sehwag, Sachin Tendulkar, Virat Kohli, Shikhar Dhawan, M Vijay, Ajinkya Rahane, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ravindra Jadeja, Harbhajan Singh, Ishant Sharma, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, R Ashwin, Pragyan Ojha, Ashok Dinda