Yusuf, Ashwin in ODI squad

Gambhir and Yuvraj was left out because of injury while Tamil Nadu off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin was named in ODI squad and Yusuf gets reward of its destructive batting. Off-spinner Harbhajan Singh has also not been picked because of personal reasons.

Allrounder Yusuf Pathan has been recalled to the ODI squad for the first two matches against South Africa, along with fast bowler Praveen Kumar. R Ashwin, the Tamil Nadu offspinner, has also been called up, as has Mumbai allrounder Abhishek Nayar, to the 15-man squad.

Yusuf made a strong case for himself with his performances on the domestic circuit. His two centuries for West Zone - 210 off 190 balls in the second innings - helped them achieve the highest chase in first-class cricket in the Duleep Trophy final against South Zone.
He strengthened his chances by smashing a century off 40 balls - the third fastest century in List A matches - for Baroda in their Vijay Hazare Trophy match against Maharashtra in Ahmedabad.







The first ODI will be played in Jaipur on February 21 while Gwalior will host the second match on February 24. The three-match series will end in Ahmedabad on February 27.


Squad: M S Dhoni (captain), Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag, Virat Kohli, Dinesh Karthik, Suresh Raina, Ravindra Jadeja, R Ashwin, Zaheer Khan, Ashish Nehra, Sudeep Tyagi, Praveen Kumar, Abhishek Nayar, Yusuf Pathan and Amit Mishra.