New Delhi: He was down but not out. After having the battle against cancer, Yuvraj Singh is all set to regain his place in Team India.
The swashbuckling all-rounder was on Wednesday was named in the 30 probables for the T20 World Cup, scheduled to be held in Sri Lanka in September.
However, it is not certain whether the southpaw, who recently underwent treatment for cancer, will make the cut for the final 15 that will be announced in August.
Yuvraj will have to prove his match fitness for the tournament and will be eager to do so.
Off spinner Harbhajan Singh, who has been out of the Indian team for quite some time, has also been included in the preliminary squad.
A few promising youngsters such as all-rounder Mandeep Singh and wicketkeeper-batsman Naman Ojha and domestic veterans such as batsman Ambati Rayudu were picked in the list announced by the BCCI secretary Sanjay Jagdale.
Paceman Laxmipathy Balaji, who last played an international match in 2009, was also part of the provisional list which will be pruned to a 15-member squad at a later stage.
Surprise picks in the squad are long-forgotten Balaji, who has not played any Twenty20 for the national team. In fact, Balaji's last ODI appearance for the country was back in 2009 against Sri Lanka.
The rest of the squad features players who have been in and out of the team on a rotational basis.
Youngsters in the line-up include batsman Ajinkya Rahane, who would be filling up for Sachin Tendulkar in the upcoming tour of Sri lanka. Shikhar Dhawan, who endured an indifferent tour of the West Indies with the India A squad, has also been included.
The World Twenty20 will begin on September 18 with the men's competition while the women's matches will begin on September 26.
Indian Squad
Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Suresh Raina, R. Ashwin, Pragyan Ojha, Umesh Yadav, Ashok Dinda, Ajinkya Rahane, Manoj Tiwary, Rahul Sharma, Vinay Kumar, Zaheer Khan, Yuvraj Singh, Robin Uthappa, Irfan Pathan, Yusuf Pathan, Mandeep Singh, Piyush Chawla, Ravindra Jadeja, Shikhar Dhawan, Ambati Rayudu, Harbhajan Singh, Munaf Patel, Naman Ojha, Dinesh Karthik, Praveen Kumar, L. Balaji
WIth PTI inputs
First Published: Wednesday, July 18, 2012, 12:01