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| Mahendra Singh Dhoni |
The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) announced the 15-member Indian squad for the 2011 World Cup on 17 January 2011 (Monday) beginning from February 19 at Sher-e-Bangla Stadium, Mirpur, Dhaka.
The team comprises of seven batsmen, one all-rounder, four pacers and three specialist spinners.
Sachin Tendulkar, Gautam Gambhir, Virat Kohli, Yuvraj Singh and Suresh Raina have been retained from the present team on a tour of South Africa. Vice-captain Virender Sehwag, who had opted out of the ODI series in South Africa, has made a return for cricket's biggest event.
Zaheer Khan, Munaf Patel, Praveen Kumar and Ashish Nehra will take care of pace-bowling while Harbhajan, R. Ashwin and Piyush Chawla form the spinners' trio.
Yusuf Pathan has been handed the all-rounder's job. Wicket-keeping has been entrusted entirely to captain M.S. Dhoni.
Those who failed to find a place in the team include spinner Pragyan Ojha, pacer S. Sreesanth and all-rounder Rohit Sharma.
The selection panel, headed by chief selector K. Srikkanth, chose the team out of a list of 30 probables. Dhoni and coach Gary Kirsten, who are currently busy with the ODI series in South Africa, were also part of the consultations done through teleconferencing.
Chief selector K. Srikkanth said a well-balanced team had been picked up keeping in mind the ground and wicket conditions in the sub-continent.
The 15-member team is:
MS Dhoni (C)
Sachin Tendulkar
Virender Sehwag
Gautam Gambhir
Yuvraj Singh
Suresh Raina
Virat Kohli
Yusuf Pathan (all-rounder)
Zaheer Khan
Ashish Nehra
Munaf Patel
Praveen Kumar
Harbhajan Singh
R. Ashwin
Piyush Chawla
"We have selected the best combination after consultations with the captain and the coach. I am confident the team will win the World Cup for us," Srikkanth said in Chennai.
