MS Dhoni rested for Zimbabwe tour; J&K’s Parvez Rasool included

Zee Media Bureau

New Delhi: After missing the tri-nation series being played in West Indies due to hamstring injury, India skipper MS Dhoni was also rested for the upcoming Zimbabwe series. While Virat Kohli will lead the side, spinner Parveez Rasool created history as the 24-year-old became the first cricketer from Jammu and Kashmir to be named in the Indian team. Rasool, who has been in contention for national selection for a while now after a string of impressive performances, got the nod in the 15-member squad with the selectors preferring to go in with a young team for the five-match ODI series, to be held from July 24 to August 3 at Harare and Bulawayo. Prolific batsman Cheteshwar Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane were also recalled in the squad to be led by young Virat Kohli who is currently captaining the team in the West Indies following a hamstring injury to Dhoni. BCCI’s official Twitter handle on Friday confirmed the names of other players who have been rested for the ODI series. “Media Alert: Ishant Sharma, Ravichandran Ashwin, Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Umesh Yadav have been rested,” it said. Indian skipper MS Dhoni was ruled out of the ongoing tri-nation series in West Indies due to a hamstring injury. The team has seven specialist batsmen, three spinners and four fast bowlers and one wicketkeeper-batsman in Dinesh Karthik. With Vijay dropped, the opening combination of Shikhar Dhawan and Rohit Sharma is likely to be persisted with while the middle-order will comprise Kohli, Pujara, Suresh Raina, Ambati Rayudu and Ajinkya Rahane. Squad: Virat (C), Shikhar, Rohit, DK, Pujara, Raina, Rayudu, Rahane, Jadeja, Mishra, Rasool, Shami, Vinay, Unadkat, Mohit With PTI inputs