Indias dismal performance in the last two Test against ENgland has seen the selectors dropping Yuvraj Singh, Zaheer Khan and Harbhajan Singh from the India squad for the 4th Test to be played in Nagpur. They will be replaced by leg-spinner Piyush Chawla, Delhi paceman Parvinder Awana and Saurashtra all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja.
Stung by two successive defeats on home soil, the national selectors on Sunday cracked the whip by axing veteran pace spearhead Zaheer Khan and batsman Yuvraj Singh from the squad for the fourth and final Test against England starting on Thursday.
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Off-spinner Harbhajan Singh, who did not play the last match, also found himself in casualty list as the selectors opted for a leg-spinner in Piyush Chawla and infused young blood by picking Delhi paceman Parvinder Awana and Saurashtra all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja.
Zaheer Khan indifferent performance has been the selectors drop him. File Pic/AFP
Barring Yuvraj and Zaheer&39;s omissions, there were no major changes to the squad announced by BCCI Secretary Sanjay Jagdale after a meeting of the Sandeep Patil-led selection panel.
The selectors also announced the team for the two Twenty20 matches to be held in Pune December 20 and Mumbai December 22 in which Uttar Pradesh all-rounder Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Awana were the two new faces. Virender Sehwag and Zaheer Khan were left out and the Board explained that they were unavailable for the series.
"I don&39;t want to comment on selection issues. No one is happy when the team loses. We are looking into it, we are working on it," said Jagdale.
Jadeja, a hot property in the IPL, and Awana were rewarded with a berth in the team for their consistent performance in the domestic circuit.
Under pressure to make changes after the debacles in Mumbai and Kolkata, the national selectors, however, refrained from making wholesale changes to the squad.
As a result some of the other non-performing stars retained their places while the two spinners - R Ashwin and Pragyan Ojha - despite being below-par have hung on to their places.
Off-spinner Ashwin has flopped as a bowler in the series so far but his unbeaten knock of 91 may have just saved him from the axe.
Jadeja&39;s inclusion provides the all-rounder&39;s option to the team, particularly after the middle-order batsmen failed to make much of an impression. Virat Kohli has had a dismal series,while Sachin Tendulkar has also been struggling for runs though he scored 76 in the first innings.
Zaheer&39;s axing was on the cards as he took only one wicket in 31 overs that he bowled in the third Test and has a tally only four wickets in three Tests. While Steven Finn and James Anderson swung the ball in Kolkata, Zaheer failed to do so for India and was shoddy on the field.
Zaheer&39;s absence will mean that either Ashok Dinda or Awana would play in the Nagpur Test. Ishant Sharma, who also did not make much of an impact, has been retained though his place in the playing XI remains uncertain.
Jadeja hit two triple centuries against Gujarat and Railways in the Ranji Trophy and was recently in the news for being the first Indian to hit three triple centuries.
Awana was among the top three wicket-takers last season and has already got two five-wicket in the two Ranji Trophy matches this season.
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