Gautam Gambhir scored his last Test century more than three years ago
Underperforming opener Gautam Gambhir has been dropped from the India squad for the first two Tests against Australia, starting from February 22 in Chennai. Shikhar Dhawan has been named his surprised replacement.
Veteran off-spinner Harbhajan Singh, who was dropped from the fourth and final Test against England in Nagpur in December last year, has replaced Piyush Chawla in the 15-man squad while Bhuvneshwar Kumar has earned his maiden Test call-up.
The rest of other squad is same that lost to England 2-1 to hand them their first Test series victory on Indian soil in 28 years.
Beside Harbhajan Singh, the other two specialist spinners in the Indian squad are Ravichandran Ashwin, Pragyan Ojha.
Iconic batsman Sachin Tendulkar, who announced his one-day international retirement in December last year, has been named in the squad. He will bolster the middle-order with Cheteshwar Pujara, the lone batsman who convinced in the England series.
Virender Sehwag, another opening batsman who has had been unimpressive in the recent past, has succeeded to retain his place.
Pace trio Zaheer Khan, Irfan Pathan and Umesh Yadav, all of whom are recovering from injuries were not considered were selection for the first two Tests but either of them could make comeback into the squad for the remaining two Tests.
Dhawan nudged the selectors with his consistent performance in the ongoing Irani Cup. Gambhir, whom he replaced, has had been miserable in the Test arena as his last Test hundred came more than three years ago. His average in the last 26 Tests is 30.2.
32-year-old Harbhajan, who was axed from squad following his miserable performance in the first three Tests against England, rode on his strong performance in domestic circuit and his exceptional record against Australia to make a comeback into the squad.
Uncapped at Test level Bhuvneshwar, who impressed during the limited-over series against Pakistan and England, is the third fast bowler in the squad among Ishant Sharma and Ashok Dinda.
The tourists will play two three-day warm-up matches against India Press XI (February 12-14) and India A (February 16-18) in Chennai before coming head-to-head against India for first Test at the same venue on February 22.
India Squad:
MS Dhoni (Captain.), Virender Sehwag, Sachin Tendulkar, Pragyan Ojha, Ishant Sharma, Ajinkya Rahane, R Ashwin, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli, Harbhajan Singh, Shikhar Dhawan, M Vijay, Ravindra Jadeja, Ashok Dinda, Bhuvneshwar Kumar.