After giving a fine performance in the practice test against England with a  half century in the first innings and taking five wickets with the ball, Yuvraj Singh has been selected by the Indian Selection Panel for the first two tests starting from 15th of this month.The selectors had to make a call between Raina and Yuvi and finally they opted for Yuvi. So, Suresh Raina misses out from the first two tests.In lack of spinning options as Piyush Chawla has a thumb injury,the committee went for the the experience of Harbhajan Singh who will also make a comeback.He was dropped from the squad after the England tour of India due to his consistent poor performance in that series. Murali Vijay was also included as the fourth opener option for India.

The new selection panel ,headed by Sandeep Patil had their first national selection meeting at the cricket since in Mumbai where the Indian team captain MS Dhoni was also present.They went out to select the squad for the first two tests in rather a short meeting.

It will be the first test match of Yuvraj Singh after recovering from the germ cell cancer.He last played for India in a test match in November,2011 against West Indies in Mumbai and making a comeback under home conditions will be an advantage for him.The 6th spot in the Indian team is wide open from a long time and he has an opportunity to seal it permanently in this series. Murali Vijay was later confirmed by Sandeep Patil as the third opener option  for India which means Rahane will be considered as a middle order batsman by the team. Suresh Raina misses out from the squad.

Harbhajan Singh did not have a great start to the Ranji season as he went wicketless  in the first innings after bowling 21 overs but claimed three wickets in the second innings.It was this  team,England only that showed him the exit door in 2011 series in England and he will hope to regain his permanent post in the team by performing against the same team this time.His vast experience can be very handy as he has troubled the greatest batsmen in the past.

Zaheer Khan fitness was a concern for the selection panel but his report confirmed that he is fit enough to take the field.The main focus for the panel was to provide a back up for every department and so they have included an extra pacer,spinner,top order and middle order.

INDIAN SQUAD FOR THE FIRST TWO TESTS 

MS Dhoni(Capt and Wk), Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Sachin Tendulkar, Virat Kohli, Yuvraj Singh, Chiteshwar Pujara, R Ashwin, Pragyan Ojha, Zaheer Khan, Umesh Yadav, Harbhajan Singh, Murali Vijay, Ajinkya Rahane, Ishant Sharma

~ deepak kumar