#INDvENG: Selectors give more shocks than surprises in picking ODI, T20 squad!

Virat Kohli was, officially, named India's limited-overs captain on Friday when chairman of selectors MSK Prasad called out his name third after KL Rahul and Shikhar Dhawan while announcing the 15-member squad for the three ODIs against England in Pune (Jan 15), Cuttack (Jan 19) and Kolkata (Jan 22).

Mahendra Singh Dhoni's successor Kohli connected with the national selectors through Skype to finalise the squads that had some surprises and some new names.

Veteran left-handed all-rounder and 2011 World Cup hero Yuvraj Singh makes a comeback into the ODI scheme of things after a little over three years and missing 60 ODIs in the intervening period between then and now, and has been included for the three T20Is (Jan 26, Kanpur; Jan 29, Nagpur; Feb 1, Bengaluru) that follow.

Explosive 19-year-old left-handed wicket-keeper batsman Rishabh Pant has gained his maiden India senior selection on the basis of the promise he showed in the ICC Under-19 World Cup last year, for his 972 runs in the Ranji Trophy for Delhi besides being an understudy as a wicketkeeper to Dhoni.

Yuvraj's Ranji Trophy performances this season included scores of 177 and 260 while aggregating 672 at 84.00 for Punjab.

Talking about Yuvraj, Prasad said on Friday: "We should appreciate the way Yuvraj played in domestic cricket. We were concerned that he was not playing long innings. But he did extremely well in domestic and that has been appreciated and we have given him the chance in ODIs and T20Is."

Yuvraj, a veteran of 293 ODIs and 55 T20Is, is beyond a phase where his domestic performances, especially first-class scores, are to be rewarded with national selection in limited-overs.

Without doubting the capabilities of a proven match-winner that Yuvraj is, similar yardstick may have held good for young and upcoming players who have done exceptionally well in domestic cricket. This was not the first time that a player has been rewarded with limited-overs selection for performances in white clothing. Nor will it be the last.

Also surprising is the selection of left-arm pacer Nehra, whose last competitive match was for Sunrisers Hyderabad in IPL in mid-May 2016. He had to miss the last phase of SRH's successful IPL campaign due to injury and has not played a game since. It is a known fact that he has an aversion for playing longer format. Plus, at 37, age is also not on his side.

But what is baffling is his selection for the three T20Is. Unless the selectors – Prasad, Sarandeep Singh, Gagan Khoda, Debang Gandhi and Jatin Paranjape who sat together for the last time before the Supreme Court orders on Lodha Panel recommendations take over – thought he was best suited to groom the youngsters in the squad.

There again, the medium-pacers for the T20Is are Jasprit Bumrah and Bhuvneshwar Kumar, both of whom are already established international cricketers. It was understandable that Nehra was recalled into the Indian squad early last year after a five-year gap as his experience and IPL experience was necessary for the World T20. But, with nothing major for India in T20s coming up in the near future, Nehra's T20I selection raised many an eye brow. His place for a youngster would have been more meaningful.

It was with this yardstick that Pant was named in the T20I squad. Prasad said: "The reason why we have gone for the youngsters is that with not much T20 coming for India, we wanted to give them a couple of chances. That's why we are sticking with Mandeep Singh and Pant."

Prasad also said that players who have been on the injured list went through "extensive fitness test in National Cricket Academy and have qualified. That is why we are making them play the warm-up games."

While Dhoni, short of match practice after last playing in October end in the ODI series against New Zealand, will lead India 'A' in the first warm-up game against England at the Brabourne Stadium here on January 10. That will also feature Shikhar Dhawan, Mandeep Singh, Yuvraj, Hardik Pandya, Yuzvendra Chahal and Nehra who have been named in the India squads.

Another set of India 'A' to be led by Ajinkya Rahane will take on England in the second warm-up game on January 12 at the same venue. This will include Pant and Raina who will feature in the T20Is. Rahane, on his part, has been kept out of the T20I squad and will feel the pressure to pull up his socks in the ODIs after some below-par performances in this format in the past.

SQUADS:

India squad (3 ODIs): V Kohli (C), KL Rahul, S Dhawan, MS Dhoni, M Pandey, K Jadhav, Yuvraj Singh, A Rahane, H Pandya, R Ashwin, R Jadeja, A Mishra, J Bumrah, B Kumar and U Yadav
India squad (3 T20Is): V Kohli (C), KL Rahul, Mandeep Singh, MS Dhoni, M Pandey, Suresh Raina, Yuvraj Singh, Rishabh Pant, H Pandya, R Ashwin, R Jadeja, Yuzvendra Chahal, J Bumrah, B Kumar and A Nehra
India 'A' squad for 1st warm-up match against England, January 10: MS Dhoni (C), S Dhawan, Mandeep Singh, A Rayudu, Yuvraj Singh, H Pandya, S Samson, K Yadav, Y Chahal, A Nehra, M Sharma, S Kaul
India 'A' squad for 2nd warm-up match against England, January 12: A Rahane, R Pant, S Raina, D Hooda, I Kishan, S Jackson, V Shankar, S Nadeem, P Rasool, R Vinay Kumar, P Sangwan, A Dinda.

While 10 players are constants for both ODIs and T20Is, selectors have made five changes to the T20I squad. Mandeep Singh, Risbabh Pant, Suresh Raina, Yuzvendra Chahal and Ashish Nehra come in for T20Is replacing Shikhar Dhawan, Kedar Jadhav, Ajinkya Rahane, Amit Mishra and Umesh Yadav