Yuvraj earns India recall

4 December 2008

Yuvraj Singh's last Test was the victory over South Africa at Kanpur in April this year

Batsman Yuvraj Singh and slow left-armer Pragyan Ojha have been named in the India squad for the rescheduled two-Test series against England.

Yuvraj, who hit centuries against Kevin Pietersen’s men in the first two one-day internationals of a series later abandoned due to the terror attacks in Mumbai, has often struggled at Test level and has not played for his country in this form of the game since April.

He was overlooked for the Test series against Sri Lanka, but his impressive recent form has earned him a recall.

The inclusion of the uncapped Ojha was a surprise although he is unlikely to see much action with Harbhajan Singh and Amit Mishra the principal spinners in the party.

Subramaniam Badrinath and Murali Vijay retain their places while Gautam Gambhir, who missed the last match of the Border-Gavaskar series in Nagpur due to suspension, was also retained.

Left-arm seamer RP Singh, who was dropped from the one-day side last month, was overlooked.

The first Test against England is scheduled to be played in Chennai between December from 11-15 and the second Test in Mohali from December 19-23.

India squad: Mahendra Singh Dhoni (captain), Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Sachin Tendulkar, Yuvraj Singh, VVS Laxman, Pragyan Ojha, Rahul Dravid, Amit Mishra, Harbhajan Singh, Zaheer Khan, Ishant Sharma, Subramaniam Badrinath, Munaf Patel, Murali Vijay.