Zaheer, Sree set for Test

Mumbai
Nov. 10: Kerala fast bowler S Sreesanth made a comeback to Team India when he was included in the 15-strong squad for the first two Test matches against Sri Lanka.
The 26-year-old, whose on-field antics have often landed him in trouble — including a ‘final warning’ from the cricket board — last played in a Test in April 2008 against South Africa in Kanpur.
Pacer Zaheer Khan too made an expected return into the squad after recovering from the shoulder injury which had kept him out of the Sri Lanka tri-series and Champions Trophy in September and the ongoing ODI series against Australia.
The left-arm seamer, who has claimed 210 wickets in 65 Tests, missed several important series including the Champions Trophy in South Africa and the ongoing one-dayers against world champions Australia.
Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s team also includes Tamil Nadu batsmen Murali Vijay and Subramaniam Badrinath, while pacers Ashish Nehra and Munaf Patel were ignored.
Nehra did reasonably well in the ODIs against Australia, but failed to find a place in the side announced by the board secretary N. Srinivasan after a meeting of the senior selection panel here.
India last played a Test match in April this year against New Zealand and the players to miss out from that squad are pacer Laxmipathy Balaji, wicketkeeper-batsman Dinesh Karthik and Dhawal Kulkarni.
Batsmen Suresh Raina and Virat Kohli, all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja and pacer Praveen Kumar, who are playing the ODIs against Australia, were not considered for the Tests.
As expected, the experienced batting duo of Rahul Dravid and V.V.S. Laxman retained their places. Barring Sreesanth’s comeback, there were no major surprises in the squad, which has eight specialist batsmen, three pacers, three spinners and one wicketkeeper in Dhoni.
Offie Harbhajan Singh will lead the spin attack with leg-spinner Amit Mishra and left-armer Pragyan Ojha supporting him. For the last named, it was a first call to Test duty.
India play the first Test in Ahmedabad followed by Kanpur (November 24 to 28) and Mumbai (December 2 to 6). After the Tests, the Lankans play two Twenty20 matches and five one-dayers.

Squad
Mahendra Singh Dhoni (capt), Virender Sehwag, Sachin Tendulkar, Gautam Gambhir, Rahul Dravid, V.V.S. Laxman, Yuvraj Singh, Harbhajan Singh, Amit Mishra, Zaheer Khan, Ishant Sharma, Murali Vijay, Pragyan Ojha, S. Sreesanth and S. Badrinath