Hyderabad, Oct 21 (PTI) Captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni was today rested for the first three One-day Internationals against Sri Lanka next month and batting mainstay Virat Kohli will lead the side in his absence.
Bengal’s Wriddhiman Saha made a comeback to the national side to take the place of Dhoni in the 15-member team picked by BCCI selection committee for the first three of the five-match series which was hastily arranged after West Indies abruptly cancelled its tour of India last week.
Ravichandran Ashwin too returned after being rested for the West Indies series in place of spinner Kuldeep Yadav while pacer Varun Aaron replaced injured Mohit Sharma.
Pacer Bhuvneshwar Kumar was the other player who has been left out from the squad that played against the West Indies.
Meanwhile, the five ODIs against Sri Lanka will be held at Cuttack, Hyderabad, Ranchi, Kolkata and Ahmedabad and the detailed itinerary will be announced shortly, BCCI secretary Sanjay Patel said in a release.
Shikhar Dhawan and Ajinkya Rahane have been retained for the opening responsibility while Rohit Sharma, who has recovered from an injury, has been named in the India ‘A’ team for the practice game against the visiting Sri Lankan team.
Kohli, as usual, will lead the batting in the middle-order and he will be supported by Suresh Raina, Ambati Rayudu, Ravindra Jadeja and Saha.
After a prolonged bad patch, Kohli roared back to form with an elegant century in the fourth ODI against the West Indies in Dharamsala.
Ishant Sharma, who did not play in any of the four games against the West Indies after being picked for the last two ODIs, Mohammad Shami, Umesh adav and Aaron will form the pace bowling unit.
The spin department will be manned by Ashwin, Jadeja, Amit Mishra and young Axar Patel.
Team: Virat Kohli (capt), Shikhar Dhawan, Ajinkya Rahane, Suresh Raina, Ambati Rayudu, Wriddhiman Saha, R Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Mohammad Shami, Umesh Yadav, Ishant Sharma, Amit Mishra, Murali Vijay, Varun Aaron, Axar Patel.