Dravid dropped; Sehwag, Yuvraj return for Oz series

Veteran batsman Rahul Dravid was on Thursday dropped while the dashing duo of Virender Sehwag and Yuvraj Singh returned to India's 15-member squad for the first two one-dayers of a seven-match series against Australia starting October 25.

Dravid, who was surprisingly named in India's Champions Trophy squad, found himself out of favour again after just one tournament.

Out of form pacer R P Singh, wicket-keeper batsman Dinesh Karthik and young all-rounder Abhishek Nayar were also left out of the squad announced by the BCCI after a meeting of the selection of its panel.

Rookie Uttar Pradesh pacer Sudeep Tyagi was the lone new face in the squad, which also marked the return of Munaf Patel and young all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja.

The BCCI said Yuvraj, who is currently nursing a fractured finger, will be completely fit by October 28 for the second one-dayer in Nagpur and might be available for the first one-dayer as well on October 25 in Vadodara.

"Selectors are advised that Yuvraj would definitely be fit to play on October 28. It is possible that he may be able to play the first match as well," BCCI secretary N Srinivasan said in a statement.

"The decision on the playing XI for the first match will be made based on Yuvraj's fitness on October 25," he added.

Sehwag, meanwhile, has already recovered from his shoulder injury and is currently playing in the Champions League Twenty20.

The squad: Mahendra Singh Dhoni (c), Gautam Gambhir, Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag, Yuvraj Singh, Virat Kohli, Praveen Kumar, Amit Mishra, Ashish Nehra, Suresh Raina, Ishant Sharma, Ravindra Jadeja, Munaf Patel, Sudeep Tyagi