Harbhajan to lead Rest of India Out For Yuvi & Viru

Harbhajan Singh, the discarded India off-spinner, will lead the Rest of India squad in the Irani Cup against Karnataka. The match will be played at the Chinnaswamy stadium, Bangalore from February 9 to 13.

The other spinners in the squad include Amit Mishra and Parvez Rasool. The squad also included the likes of Gautam Gambhir, Varun Aaron, Dinesh Karthik, Pankaj Singh and Ashok Dinda who have played for India.

There was no place for the leading wicket-taker in the Ranji season, Rishi Dhawan. Interestingly, Harbhajan managed only 22 wickets in 5 games this season including a lone five-fer in his first game. The other prominent member to have missed out is Pragyan Ojha.

Two of the three batsmen to have scored 1000 runs in the season will figure in the match. Kedhar Jadhav, the highest run-getter will feature for ROI while KL Rahul, the second highest run-getter will turn out for Karnataka. There was no room for the third, Harshad Khadiwale of Maharashtra.

The squad: Harbhajan Singh (capt), Jiwanjot Singh, Gautam Gambhir, Baba Aparajith, Kedar Jadhav, Ankit Bawne, Dinesh Karthik (wk), Amit Mishra, Pankaj Singh, Ashok Dinda, Varun Aaron, Parveez Rasool, Anureet Singh, Natraj Behera, Mandeep Singh.