Agencies
New Delhi, December 4
Experienced Indian cricketers, Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Yuvraj Singh, Harbhajan Singh and Zaheer Khan were excluded from the 30-member Indian probables squad for the ICC Cricket World Cup 2015. All-rounder, Yuvraj played a big role in India's World Cup triumph in 2011 and was the Man of the Series. Zaheer too came up with vital contributions with the ball while Sehwag and Gambhir also did well in a couple of games with the latter coming up with an important knock in the final against Sri Lanka.
Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Virat Kohli, Suresh Raina and Ravichandran Ashwin were the only survivors from the squad that lifted the World Cup in 2011. The 30-member squad for the 2015 event was filled with youngsters who performed well in the domestic circuit, apart from the Team India regulars.
Manish Pandey, Kedar Jadhav, Murali Vijay and Manoj Tiwary were present in the list of batters while Robin Uthappa, Wriddhiman Saha and Sanju Samson were the back-up wicket-keepers.
Stuart Binny, Axar Patel and Parvez Rasool were amongst the all-rounders named in the squad while Kuldeep Yadav, Karn Sharma and Amit Mishra were the spinners in the team along with the regular names. Mohit Sharma, Ashok Dinda and Dhawal Kulkarni were amongst the eight pacers named in the probables list.
The deadline for announcing the condensed 15-man squad to the ICC is January 7, 2015.
India have been pooled alongside Pakistan, South Africa, UAE, West Indies, Zimbabwe and Ireland at the World Cup. They play their first match against Pakistan on February 15 in Adelaide.
India World Cup probables
Batsmen : Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit Sharma, Ajinkya Rahane, Virat Kohli, Suresh Raina, Ambati Rayudu, Kedar Jadhav, Manoj Tiwary, Manish Pandey and Murali Vijay.
Wicket-keepers : MS Dhoni, Wriddhiman Saha, Robin Uthappa and Sanju Samson
All-rounders : Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Stuart Binny and Parvez Rasool
Spinners : R Ashwin, Karn Sharma, Amit Mishra and Kuldeep Yadav.
Pacers : Ishant Sharma, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mohammed Shami, Umesh Yadav, Varun Aaron, Dhawal Kulkarni, Mohit Sharma and Ashok Dinda.
