Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir have all been named in India's 15-man World Cup squad.
Tendulkar, Sehwag and Gambhir all named in 15-man World Cup squad
Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir have all been named in India's 15-man World Cup squad despite currently being sidelined with various injuries.
Tendulkar has returned home after suffering a hamstring injury during India's one-run victory in the second one-day international against South Africa on Saturday.
Sehwag and Gambhir had already pulled out of the series after sustaining injuries and India's bowling attack in South Africa has also been hit following the withdrawals of Praveen Kumar and Shanthakumaran Sreesanth.
Sreesanth was omitted from the World Cup squad, but Kumar was selected along with Tendulkar, Sehwag and Gambhir, with the quartet expected to be fully fit in time for the tournament which begins on February 19.
Chairman of selectors K Srikkanth claimed that India have chosen the "best combination possible".
Srikkanth expressed hope that Mahendra Singh Dhoni's team would win the World Cup, carrying on the success of the team at home and abroad over recent years.
"We have had a thorough discussion among the five selectors," Srikkanth said.
"We have picked up the best combination taking into consideration factors like wicket condition and the strength and weakness of the opposition. This is a very well balanced team."
Srikkanth admitted there will be pressure on India since they are playing in front of a home crowd.
"There will be an enormous pressure playing at home, but greatness lies is handling the pressure and winning the cup," he added.
When asked about the injury concerns dogging the team, Srikkanth said: "Injury is part and parcel of cricket. Every team is hit by injury concerns, So the challenge is to be positive and perform well."
India squad: Mahendra Singh Dhoni (capt, wkt), Virender Sehwag (vice-capt), Sachin Tendulkar, Gautam Gambhir, Virat Kohli, Yuvraj Singh, Suresh Raina, Yusuf Pathan, Harbhajan Singh, Ravichandran Ashwin, Piyush Chawla, Zaheer Khan, Praveen Kumar, Munaf Patel, Ashish Nehra
