Ashish Nehra last played international cricket in February
Image courtesy of: ESPNcricinfo
India have recalled left-arm seamer Ashish Nehra, opener Shikhar Dhawan and wicketkeeper-batsman Dinesh Karthik for the upcoming three-match Twenty20 series against Australia.
Dhawan missed the recent five-match ODI series, which India won 4-1, as he was granted leave to tend to his wife, who was unwell.
As for Karthik, he featured in the one-off Twenty20 International against the West Indies in July, but missed out on the lone Twenty20 International against Sri Lanka last month.
Nehra, meanwhile, has not played international cricket since the Twenty20 series against England in January-February.
“Ashish Nehra played the last full T20 series against England earlier this year,” a BCCI official told PTI as quoted by NDTV. “He was in contention to play Champions Trophy but an injury during IPL put paid to his hopes. India’s last two T20s were one-off games against West Indies and Sri Lanka, so Ashish wasn’t picked.
“Ashish if fit was due for a comeback as and when there would have been a three-match T20 series. There isn’t anyone craftier than Ashish and when it comes to his selection, it’s about fitness and not form. Check records, Ashish has never been dropped because of poor form.”
With the trio coming in, batsman Ajinkya Rahane and pace bowler Shardul Thakur have been dropped.
Rahane’s removal from the squad comes as a slight surprise, especially as he scored 244 runs, which included four half-centuries, at an average of 48.80 in the ODI series.
India’s main spinners Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja were not included in the squad either as they continue to be rested.
Ashwin recently concluded his stint with Worcestershire in England, while Jadeja was called up to the ODI squad as a replacement for Axar Patel, but he did not play a single game.
The Twenty20 series between India and Australia gets underway on October 7 in Ranchi.
India’s T20 Squad: Virat Kohli (capt), Rohit Sharma (vice-capt), Shikhar Dhawan, KL Rahul, Manish Pandey, Kedar Jadhav, Dinesh Karthik, MS Dhoni (wk), Hardik Pandya, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Jasprit Bumrah, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Ashish Nehra, Axar Patel