India will be without explosive batsman Virender Sehwag in the upcoming One-Day series against Australia due to an injury while Sachin Tendulkar, Harbhajan Singh and Zaheer Khan have been rested.
Although the Cricket Board has not specified the exact nature of Sehwag's injury, sources reveal that the opener is nursing a shoulder problem.
Since Gautam Gambhir is also injured, the selectors have filled the opening slot by calling Murali Vijay in the 14-member squad, which has a new face in batsman Shikhar Dhawan.
The selectors have left out injured paceman Ishant Sharma and rested Pragyan Ojha for the three-match series, starting October 17 in Kochi.
Paceman R Vinay Kumar, who made his ODI debut against Zimbabwe in May this year, makes a comeback and will be part of the pace battery which also includes the experienced trio of Ashish Nehra, Munaf Patel and Praveen Kumar.
Tendulkar, who has been in scintillating form in the Test series, scoring his sixth double hundred in the ongoing second Test against Australia, has not played a One-Dayer since the February clash against South Africa in Gwalior.
"Sachin Tendulkar, Harbhajan Singh, Zaheer Khan and Pragyan Ojha have been rested," BCCI secretary N Srinivasan said in a statement after the meeting of the selection panel.
"Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir and Ishant Sharma are undergoing treatment for minor injuries, and have therefore not been included," the BCCI statement read.
Out-of-favour left-hander Yuvraj Singh, who lost his place in the Test side due to lack of form and fitness, has managed to hold on to his ODI spot in the squad.
Rookie batsman Shikhar Dhawan has benefitted from injuries and rest to senior players and has been given a national call-up.
The 24-year-old Delhi batsman has played 52 first-class matches scoring 3526 runs at an average of 45.79.
Dhoni is the only wicketkeeper in the squad after the selectors dropped Dinesh Karthik for the October 17 to 24 series to be played out in Kochi, Visakahpatnam and Margao.
The Squad: MS Dhoni (Captain), Murali Vijay, Shikhar Dhawan, Virat Kohli, Suresh Raina, Yuvraj Singh, Saurabh Tiwary, R Ashwin, Praveen Kumar, Ashish Nehra, Munaf Patel, Vinay Kumar, Ravindra Jadeja and Rohit Sharma.
