Kohli to lead in ZIM; Rasool, M Sharma included

[[JUGRAJ SINGH]]

Virat Kohli has been named captain of the Indian side to tour Zimbabwe later this month. Most of the seniors have been rested. Batsman Cheteshwar Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane have been included in the squad. Gautam Gambhir, whose name was doing the rounds has not been picked by the selectors.

Parvez Rasool and Mohit Sharma are the new faces in the squad. Off-spinner, Rasool will become the first cricketer from Jammu and Kashmir to represent India while the medium-pacer Sharma, who impressed in the Indian T20 League playing for the Chennai franchise, has been rewarded for his consistency of performances.

The selectors led by the Chairman, Sandeep Patil have given an opportunity to India's bench strength to show their prowess in the low-profile tour. The tour will consist of 5 ODIs and is set to last from July 24 to August 3 with matches scheduled for Harare and Bulawayo.

India squad: Virat Kohli (Captain), Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit Sharma, Dinesh Karthik, Cheteshwar Pujara, Suresh Raina, Ambati Rayudu, Ajinkya Rahane, Ravindra Jadeja, Amit Mishra, Parvez Rasool, Shami Ahmed, Vinay Kumar, Jaidev Unadkat, Mohit Sharma.

Meanwhile, the selectors also announced the squad for the India A side to tour South Africa from the 2nd week of August. The team would be led by Cheteshwar Pujara and consists of a number of players currently on national duty in the Caribbean. It would serve as an important benchmark for the selectors to pick the side for India's tour of South Africa at the end of the year. The 'A' team would take part in an ODI tri-series, also featuring Australia A followed by two 4-day matches against South Africa A.

India A team to South Africa:

Cheteshwar Pujara (Captain), Shikhar Dhawan, Murali Vijay, Rohit Sharma, Suresh Raina, Ambati Rayudu, Dinesh Karthik, Ajinkya Rahane, Wriddhiman Saha, Parvez Rasool, Shahbaz Nadeem, Shami Ahmed, Stuart Binny, Ishwar Chand Pandey, Jaidev Unadkat, Siddharth Kaul.

MATCH SCHEDULE:

August 2013

8 August - 1st ODI vs Australia 'A'

9 August - 2nd ODI vs South Africa 'A'

11 August - 3rd ODI vs Australia 'A'

12 August - 4th ODI vs South Africa 'A'

14 August - Final



17-20 August - 1st Four Day Game

24-27 August - 2nd Four Day Game