Yuvi returns to ODI fold, Bengal's Shami makes first cut

On a day when Sachin Tendulkar caught the nation by surprise by announcing his retirement from one-day cricket, the selectors rung in changes for the three ODIs against Pakistan, starting December 30. HT reports.

On a day when Sachin Tendulkar caught the nation by surprise by announcing his retirement from one-day cricket, the selectors rung in changes for the three ODIs against Pakistan, starting Dec 30.

The Sandeep Patil-chaired five-man selection committee, which met on Sunday, made six changes to the one-day team, which last played in Sri Lanka in August. Opener Virender Sehwag, who was 'rested' for the England T20's was again overlooked for the two T20's against traditional rivals, but managed to retain his place in the one-day team.

Zaheer Khan, however was not that fortunate, as the seamer was not picked in the 15-member squad, with the selectors instead opting for Ishant Sharma. Ishant also made a return to the Twenty20 set-up, which he last played in 2009.

The selectors were forced to make five more changes to the 50-over team due to injuries to Irfan Pathan, Umesh Yadav and Manoj Tiwary, while spinners Pragyan Ojha and Rahul Sharma were ignored.

Those replacing them are Shami Ahmed, Yuvraj Singh, Ravindra Jadeja, Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Amit Mishra.

Yuvraj is making a return to his favourite format after recovering from a rare-germ cell cancer and last played in the triumphant World Cup final last April. But the biggest gainer on Sunday was Bengal seamer Shami Ahmed, who was included after an impressive show with the India 'A' team in West Indies.

The right-armer has also been in good form in the Ranji Trophy picking up 28 wickets from five matches and the selectors turned to him with many pacers in the countries nursing injuries. Leg-spinner Mishra too made a comeback to the ODI squad, having last played in June 2011.

There was only one change in the T20 team with Abhimanyu Mithun, who did not play against England, paving the way for Ishant.