Mumbai: Veteran off-spinner Harbhajan Singh’s two-year wait on the sidelines ended on Wednesday when the selectors named him in the 15-man Test squad for the one-off game against Bangladesh next month. Harbhajan, whose last India appearance in white flannels came in the home series against Australia in March 2013, earned a recall on the back of his stirring show in the ongoing Indian Premier League where he has 16 wickets from 14 games.
Only the fourth spinner and second Indian after Anil Kumble to take over 400 Test wickets, Harbhajan replaced all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja in the squad to be led by Virat Kohli. R. Ashwin and Karn Sharma are the other two specialists spinners in the squad that included seven specialist batsman, one wicketkeeper and four fast bowlers.
The selectors also named a strong squad for the three-match one-day international series in Mirpur keeping in mind Bangaldesh’s strong showing in the recently-held home series against Pakistan where they whitewashed the visitors 3-0.
Test squad: Virat Kohli (captain), M. Vijay, Shikhar Dhawan, K.L. Rahul, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane, Rohit Sharma, Wriddhiman Saha, R. Ashwin, Harbhajan Singh, Karn Sharma, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Umesh Yadav, Varun Aaron, Ishant Sharma
ODI squad: M.S. Dhoni (captain), Rohit Sharma, Ajinkya Rahane, Shikhar Dhawan, Virat Kohli, Suresh Raina, Ambati Rayudu, R. Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Umesh Yadav, Mohit Sharma, Stuart Binny, Dhawal Kulkarni
