Harbhajan returns to India Test squad

Veteran off-spinner Harbhajan Singh was on Wednesday recalled to India's Test squad after a gap of two years for the lone Test against Bangladesh next month.

Board of Control for Cricket in India's (BCCI) All-India Senior Selection Committee met at the Cricket Centre here to pick the Indian teams for a Test and the three-match One-Day International (ODI) series against Bangladesh, to be played from June 10 to 24.

India pacer Mohammad Shami has been ruled out of the tour due to an injured knee. The selectors have, therefore, picked up medium-pacer Dhawal Kulkarni as replacement for the Bengal seamer in the ODI squad. Mumbai's Kulkarni has played four ODIs so far and picked up eight wickets.

Offie Harbhajan last played a Test for India in March 2013 against Australia. The 34-year-old has represented India in 101 Tests and is 10th in the list of highest wicket-takers with 413 scalps.

"Harbhajan's name was discussed in our earlier meetings also. Particularly regarding this Bangladesh tour, the selection committee has selected Harbhajan keeping in mind the batting strength of Bangladesh which has a number of left-handed batsmen. This issue has also been discussed by Test skipper Virat Kohli and this decision was taken," Patil said on Wednesday.

Belying speculations, the Sandeep Patil-led committee selected a full-strength complement with skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni leading the ODI side and Virat Kohli captaining the Test squad.

Patil also said that batsman Yuvraj Singh's name was not discussed in the meeting.

This will be India's first international series after the World Cup.

Speaking on the appointment of Indian cricket team coach, after the departure of Duncan Fletcher and also on the support staffs, BCCI secretary Anurag Thakur said: "We are in the process of shortlisting the names of the coaches who are available for the Indian cricket team.

"Once that process is done, we will be in a position to take a final call to select the coach of the Indian team. This is also the same with the support staff."

Test squad: Virat Kohli (Captain), Murali Vijay, Shikhar Dhawan, Lokesh Rahul, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane, Rohit Sharma, Wriddhiman Saha, Ravichandran Ashwin, Harbhajan Singh, Karn Sharma, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Umesh Yadav, Varun Aaron, Ishant Sharma.

ODI squad: Mahendra Singh Dhoni (Captain), Rohit Sharma, Ajinkya Rahane, Virat Kohli, Shikhar Dhawan, Suresh Raina, Ambati Rayudu, Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Umesh Yadav, Mohit Sharma, Stuart Binny, Dhawal Kulkarni.