BCCI names Indian teams for T20s, first three ODIs against South Africa

Mann and Aravind were selected following their impressive performances with India A. The limited overs series will also witness the return of Mahendra Singh Dhoni as the skipper following Virat Kohli’s first series win as Test captain against hosts Sri lanka.

The Sandeep Patil-led selection committee announced the teams for the three T20s and the first three One-Day Internationals against the Proteas, starting on Oct.2 at Dharamsala. And even though he is captain of the ODI and T20 teams, it feels as if the team has already made plans for the future once Dhoni puts his gloves down for good.

Campers: MS Dhoni, Virat Kohli, Shikhar Dhawan, M Vijay, KL Rahul, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane, Rohit Sharma, Stuart Binny, Wriddhiman Saha, Naman Ojha, R Ashwin, Amit Mishra, Harbhajan Singh, Ishant Sharma, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Umesh Yadav, Varun Aaron, Karun Nair, Suresh Raina, Mohammed Shami, Axar Patel, Pragyan Ojha, Ravindra Jadeja, Mohit Sharma, Karn Sharma, Ambati Rayudu, Dhawal Kulkarni, Kedar Jadhav, Manish Pandey, S Arvind, Gurkeerat Singh.

Gurkeerat Singh was having the time of his life in the last few months, playing or India A. His 2/42 and 87* in the tri-series final against Australia A in August had won him the Man of the Match award.

Karnataka seamer Sreenath Aravind has been included in the T20 squad. The ‘A series has gone well and we as selectors are happy that a lot of exciting youngsters are coming up, ” said Patil. On the reported differences betwen Dhoni and Kohli, BCCI secretary Anurag Thakur said there is no truth in it. “It is a young team and there will be some aggression on the part of players”. The ODI squad picked was for the first three matches. “I was surprised and was not expecting it for I was concentrating on my game (against Bangladesh A)”, Aravind said. But in my mind, I always knew that I can bowl better. “I have learnt how to overcome the batsman from Starc, what they are thinking, Plan A, Plan B, bowling over-the-wicket yorkers and how to attack the pads or wicket, so it’s been valuable”.

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In an interaction with the media after India A clinched the series against Bangladesh A by winning the third unofficial ODI in Bengaluru on Sunday, Mann said that he got to learn a lot from watching the limited-overs captain MS Dhoni. I have been taking advice from Harbhajan because we have been lucky enough to have him with us in the Ranji season. “Whenever I had a bowling problem I went up to him for some vital tips”.