Mumbai: Yuvraj Singh was recalled to the Indian squad within months of recovering from rare germ cell cancer when he was picked for next month’s World T20 in Sri Lanka as well as the preceding two-match T20 series against New Zealand at home, it was announced on Friday.
Sachin Tendulkar returns for the two-match home Test series against New Zealand, starting in Hyderabad on August 23, after skipping the five-match ODI series in Sri Lanka that concluded earlier this month.
The misfiring VVS Laxman was also retained in the Test squad.
There was a big question mark over the Hyderabad stylist’s future after a dismal run of scores in the last two four-Test series in England and Australia.
In another interesting pick, senior off-spinner Harbhajan Singh has also been recalled to the team after a gap of one year along with veteran seamer Lakshmipathy Balaji, who makes a comeback after three years.
Yuvraj’s selection was on the cards after he was declared fit by the physio and trainer at the National Cricket Academy where he had been for the last month.
“Yuvraj has been declared fit, so he makes a comeback. And all of us know, if he gets going, he can singlehandedly win matches,” chairman of selectors Srikkanth told reporters after the meeting.
The two T20s against New Zealand, slated for the first week of September, will be a test for Yuvraj who underwent chemotherapy in the USA earlier this year.
His selection, however, was not unanimous, according to sources, with some worried about his lack of match practice recently.
The southpaw was elated with the news saying, “It feels as if I am making my debut. I have always believed that T20 is the best format for my comeback,” an elated Yuvraj said after the announcement.
Pacer Ishant Sharma, who has recuperated from a successful ankle surgery, is also back in the 15-member squad along with Suresh Raina who will be a reserve batsman.
Squad for T20 World Cup and T20s against New Zealand: MS Dhoni (captain), Gautam Gambhir (vice-captain), Virender Sehwag, Yuvraj Singh, Virat Kohli, Suresh Raina, Manoj Tiwary, Rohit Sharma, Irfan Pathan, Ravichandran Ashwin, Zaheer Khan, Lakshmipathy Balaji, Piyush Chawla, Harbhajan Singh, Ashok Dinda.
Test Squad: MS Dhoni (capt), Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Sachin Tendulkar, VVS Laxman, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli, Ravichandran Ashwin, Zaheer Khan, Pragyan Ojha, Umesh Yadav, Ajinkya Rahane, Piyush Chawla, Ishant Sharma, Suresh Raina. (PTI)