Sehwag returns to action in Irani Cup

Opener Virender Sehwag will return to action in the Irani Cup, where he will lead Rest of India against Ranji Trophy champions Mumbai in the October 1 to 5 match in Nagpur.

Sehwag, who missed the just-concluded tri-series in Sri Lanka due to a shoulder injury, sustained during the Indian Premier League, will have S Badrinath as his deputy.

The Board of Control for Cricket in India senior selection committee, which met in Chennai on Wednesday, also announced the teams for the October 8 to 11 Challenger Series, featuring India Red, India Green and India Blue.

While India Red will be led by Yuvraj Singh, Suresh Raina will captain India Green.

A star-studded India Blue will have national skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni at the helm. The team has India regulars Sachin Tendulkar and Harbhajan Singh in it.

The selection panel also announced that opener Gautam Gambhir's fitness for the Champions Trophy, starting September 22, would be assessed on Thursday.

Gambhir is nursing a groin injury which forced him to return from the tri-series in Sri Lanka without playing a single match.

Teams:

Rest of India: Virender Sehwag (capt), Wriddhiman Saha (wk), M Vijay, S Sreesanth, S Badrinath (vice-capt), Munaf Patel, Virat Kohli, Pragyan Ojha, Manoj Tiwari, Kedar Jadav, Ravindra Jadeja, Abhinav Mukund, Irfan Pathan, Uday Kaul, Sudeep Tyagi.

Challenger series:

India Red: Yuvraj Singh (capt), Wriddhiman Saha (wk), M Vijay, R Ashwin, Sunny Sohal, Sudeep Tyagi, Shikar Dhawan, Munaf Patel, Ishant Jaggi, S S Tiwari, Ravindra Jadeja, Ishant Sharma, Bhuvanesh Kumar, H Khadiwale.

India Green: Suresh Raina (capt), Irfan Pathan, A Rahane, Parthiv Patel (wk), Tanmay Srivastava, S K Jakati, Ravi Inder Singh, L Balaji, Manoj Tiwari, Dhawal Kulkarni, S Badrinath, Pankaj Singh, Chetanya Nanda, Uday Kaul.

India Blue: Mahendra Singh Dhoni (capt), Yusuf Pathan, Sachin Tendulkar, Naman Ojha, Wasim Jaffer, Harbhajan Singh, Jalaj Saxena, S K Trivedi, Suresh Kumar, S Sreesanth, Kedar Jadav, Ashok Dinda, Abhishek Nayar, A S Goswami.