Dravid Back To ODI's

Rahul Dravid has made a surprise comeback into India's limited-overs plans, after two years in the sidelines, while the injured duo of Harbhajan Singh and Yuvraj Singh are the notable omissions in the squad for the one-day and Twenty20 series against England.

Dravid, a regular member of the ODI side for most of the last decade, led India in the 2007 World Cup in the West Indies. He was dropped from the side following a poor home ODI series against Australia in 2007, but was recalled to bolster an inexperienced line-up in the lead-up to the Champions Trophy in 2009. His second coming lasted only six matches and he was axed again following India's early exit in that tournament in South Africa. He wasn't part of India's World Cup plans, but has had a good run in Tests since, including three centuries in five matches.

Yuvraj and Harbhajan both picked up injuries in India's crushing defeat in the second Test at Trent Bridge, ruling them out of action for four and three weeks respectively. Chief selector Kris Srikkanth confirmed that the senior duo was left out on fitness grounds, addressing speculation that Harbhajan may have been dropped.
Harbhajan has been dogged by poor form since the World Cup, both in the West Indies and in England, before contracting an abdominal strain at Trent Bridge. He managed only six wickets in four ODIs in the West Indies, and was overshadowed by legspinner Amit Mishra's performances. Harbhajan's form dipped further in the Tests that followed, as he picked up five wickets in the first two Tests, though there was an improvement in the third Test in Antigua, where he returned match figures of 6 for 101. He has struggled in England, picking up a wicket apiece in the first two Tests.

Yuvraj hasn't played an ODI for India since picking up the Man of the Tournament award at the World Cup. He missed the West Indies tour with a chest infection, but scored a half-century on his return to the national side at Trent Bridge before enduring a fractured left hand in the second innings that was expected to rule him out for four weeks.

Sreesanth, who returned to the Test side after missing out on the West Indies tour, has been left out again, while Vinay Kumar keeps his ODI spot as the back-up seamer. Zaheer Khan, as expected, returns to the one-day scheme of things after sitting out of the West Indies tour. Parthiv Patel, who opened the batting and kept wicket in MS Dhoni's absence in the West Indies, also retains his place as the second-choice limited-overs wicketkeeper. Shikhar Dhawan and S Badrinath, batsmen who toured West Indies in the absence of the regular batsmen, miss out this time.

Squad: MS Dhoni (capt & wk), Sachin Tendulkar, Gautam Gambhir, Virender Sehwag, Rahul Dravid, Suresh Raina, Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Parthiv Patel (wk), Amit Mishra, R Ashwin, Zaheer Khan, Ishant Sharma, Praveen Kumar, Munaf Patel, Vinay Kumar