Mumbai, May 27:
Prolific opener Robin Uthappa is all set to make a comeback into the Indian team in the limited overs version as the selection committee might think about giving regular captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni and his deputy Virat Kohli much needed rest ahead of the tour of England.
The team for five-Test series in England will also be named tomorrow.
Uthappa, the leading run-scorer in IPL is all but certain to get a look-in for the short 3-match ODI series in Bangladesh while senior opener Gautam Gambhir has a good chance of making it to the England bound Test team as the third opener. Gambhir had scored 578 runs in the last edition of Ranji Trophy.
While Rohit Sharma is being tipped to lead the Indian team to Bangladesh, there might be some interesting selections lined up for both the tours.
Promising Kerala wicketkeeper-batsman Sanju Samson along with Bengal’s Wriddhiman Saha will be vying for the second wicketkeeper’s slot after both Parthiv Patel and Dinesh Karthik having flopped in the IPL.
The likes of Murali Vijay, Shikhar Dhawan, Cheteshwar Pujara, VIrat Kohli, Ajinkya Rahane, Rohit Sharma, Mahendra Singh Dhoni are confirmed for the batting slots in the Test team are concerned.
It will be interesting to see if Gambhir has competition for the reserve opener’s slot for the England tour.
Among the reserve batsmen for the England tour, Uthappa along with Karnataka’s KL Rahul and Karun Nair’s good show in the first-class season might come up for discussion. Maharashtra’s Kedar Jadhav has also done well.
While Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja and Amit Mishra are confirmed as far as Test matches are concerned, the selectors might like to take notice of Harbhajan Singh’s performance in the ongoing IPL.
Leggies Karn Sharma and Yuzvendra Chahal, who have shone in IPL might be in selector’s radar as far as the Bangaldesh tour is concerned.
Among the pacers, Zaheer Khan is certain to be left out as he won’t get a chance to test his fitness ahead of the crucial tour of England.
Mohammed Shami, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mohit Sharma and Ishwar Pandey look to be certainties while Umesh Yadav and Varun Aaron will also be in the fray with their ability to bowl quick. Young Punjab seamer Sandeep Sharma could be tried out in Bangladesh.
India will play three match ODI series in Bangladesh at the Shere Bangla Stadium in Mirpur on June 15, 17 and 19.
The England tour commences on June 26 with a three-day game in Leicester. The visitors are to play one more warm-up three-day game against Derbyshire (July 1-3) before the five- match Test series starts on July 9 at Trent Bridge.
The other Tests are to be played at Lord’s (July 17- 21), Ageas Bowl in Southampton (July 27-31), Old Trafford (August 7-11) and The Oval (August 15-19).
The Tests would be followed by the five-match ODI series commencing on August 25 at Bristol before India would wind up the visit by playing a one-off T20 international against the hosts on September 7 at Edgbaston. (PTI)
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