The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) selectors on Sunday dropped struggling opener Virender Sehwag for the first three One Day Internationals of the five-match series against England, starting in Rajkot on January 11, 2012.
The swashbuckling Delhi opener was also left out of the XI that defeated Pakistan by ten runs in the third and final One Day International in Delhi earlier in the day, following his unimpressive show in the previous two games, where he could manage 4 and 31.
Sehwag, 34, has managed just one half century in his previous 11 ODI innings, played since scoring a record-breaking 219 against West Indies in December 2011. The 11 innings saw the Delhi dasher amassing a mere tally of 248 runs at an unimpressive average of 22.55, and there had been much speculation that he might face the axe when the Sandeep Patil led selection committee met in New Delhi on Sunday, to pick the squad for the one-day leg of the home itinerary against the Poms.
This is the first time since 2007 that the veteran Indian opener has been dropped from national one-day squad, and a BCCI source has claimed that this could well be the end of his limited overs career. The source further said that Sehwag has been dropped from the squad because "he doesn't figure in the plans for the 2015 World Cup".Sehwag has been replaced by emerging Gujarat batsman Cheteshwar Pujara in the 15-man squad for the first three one-dayers against the Three Lions.
Under-fire Mahendra Singh Dhoni has been retained as the skipper of the 15-man contingent despite calls from former selectors for a fresh leadership. Rohit Sharma has also been retained despite poor returns in the 50-overs format of late, managing scores of 5, 0, 0, 4, 4 and 4 in his last six innings.
The five-match ODI series gets underway in Rajkot, on January 11, 2013. Prior to the opening one-dayer, England are scheduled to play warm-up match against Delhi at Delhi.
India squad for first three ODIs: MS Dhoni (capt/wk), Gautam Gambir, Ajinkya Rahane, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Yuvraj Singh, Suresh Raina, R Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Amit Mishra, Ishant Sharma, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Ashok Dinda, Shami Ahmed
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