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Tendulkar opts out of Bangladesh tri-series

Sachin Tendulkar has opted out of the tri-series in Bangladesh starting on January

Cricinfo staff
25-Dec-2009
India will be without Sachin Tendulkar in Bangladesh  •  AFP

India will be without Sachin Tendulkar in Bangladesh  •  AFP

Sachin Tendulkar has opted out of the tri-series in Bangladesh starting on January 4. He will be replaced by Rohit Sharma in the 16-man squad. Yuvraj Singh has also been included despite a finger injury scare that kept him out of four ODIs in the five-match series against Sri Lanka.
Ishant Sharma and Praveen Kumar have been dropped and replaced by Sreesanth and Ashok Dinda, who made his Twenty20 debut for India earlier this month. Amit Mishra displaced Pragyan Ojha in an inexplicable game of musical chairs for the back-up spinner's role. Ravindra Jadeja retained his spot as the lone allrounder.
Sreesanth, who did not play a role in the ongoing ODI series against Sri Lanka due to swine flu, has recovered and been named in the squad. The rookie Sudeep Tyagi, a part of the current ODI squad, has kept his place despite not playing a game. Dinesh Karthik has been named as the second wicketkeeper in the squad to Bangladesh.
Rohit, 22, who was dropped from India's ODI squad after an extended run of disappointing scores in limited-overs cricket, last played in the West Indies in July and was pushed aside by Virat Kohli in the batting line-up. Kohli took his chances with both hands, scoring half-centuries in the Champions Trophy and against Sri Lanka before hitting his maiden ODI century to seal the series win against Sri Lanka. Rohit paved his way back through a triple-century in the last round of Ranji Trophy league matches.
Ishant, who was dropped for the first two ODIs against Sri lanka, failed to impress on his return - thanks to Sreesanth's illness - for the later half of the series. In 14 overs in those two matches, he went for 130 runs, and failed to keep up the pressure along with Zaheer Khan and Ashish Nehra. He managed just two wickets at an average of 65.00 and an economy rate of 9.28. Before that, during the series against Australia at home, he managed five wickets in four matches at 30.00 each. Praveen, who played the first two matches of the Sri Lanka series, managed just one wicket and went at 6.76 runs per over.
India play their first match in Bangladesh in Dhaka on January 5, against Sri Lanka, followed by fixtures on January 7, 10 and 11. The finals will be held on January 13.
Meanwhile, the selectors named the squad for the final ODI against Sri Lanka to be played in Delhi on December 27. MS Dhoni, who missed the last two matches due to ban over slow over-rates, has returned alongside Dinda for the last game. Virender Sehwag, who stood in for Dhoni and oversaw two consecutive wins, has been named vice-captain. He has earlier stressed on the need for the selectors to groom a younger leader.
Squad for tri-series: MS Dhoni (capt/wk), Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Virat Kohli, Suresh Raina, Rohit Sharma, Ravindra Jadeja, Harbhajan Singh, Zaheer Khan, Ashish Nehra, Yuvraj Singh, Sudeep Tyagi, Dinesh Karthik, Sreesanth, Ashok Dinda, Amit Mishra
Squad for final ODI v Sri Lanka: MS Dhoni (capt/wk), Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Virat Kohli, Suresh Raina, Ravindra Jadeja, Harbhajan Singh, Zaheer Khan, Ashish Nehra, Sudeep Tyagi, Dinesh Karthik, Sreesanth, Ashok Dinda, Pragyan Ojha.