Dhaval Kulkarni Gets Call

Mumbai medium pacer Dhawal Kulkarni is the new face to be included in the test team for New Zealand tour. Lakshmipathy Balaji and Dinesh Kartik  were recalled to the Indian Test squad.

Kartik was named in all the three teams as second wicketkeeper. Harbhajan Singh and pacer Munaf Patel, who were sidelined with injuries, expectedly returned to all the three teams.

Opener Murali Vijay was retained in the Test squad, which, however, has no place for left-arm spinner Pragyan Ojha, who figures in the ODI and Twenty20 squads.

Rahul Dravid and V V S Laxman were picked only for the Test series, while Sachin Tendulkar will play the Test and ODIs, having opted out of Twenty20 internationals.

Considering the seaming conditions in New Zealand, the selectors opted for just two specialist spinners in Harbhajan and Amit Mishra for the Tests while picking a five-pronged pace attack. The Indian pace attack is based on Zaheer Khan with Ishant Sharma, Munaf, Balaji and Kulkarni.

The Indian team will leave for New Zealand on February 19 and start the tour with a Twenty20 match at Christchurch on February 25. The other Twenty20 game will be played in Wellington on February 27. The ODI series starts March 3, while the Test series gets underway from March 18.

Test squad:

Mahendra Singh Dhoni (captain and wicketkeeper), Virender Sehwag , Gautam Gambhir , Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar, V V S Laxman, Yuvraj Singh , Zaheer Khan, Harbhajan Singh, Ishant Sharma, Munaf Patel, Amit Mishra, Dinesh Kaarthick, L Balaji , Dhawal Kulkarni, Murali Vijay.

ODI Squad:

Mahendra Singh Dhoni (captain and wicketkeeper), Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Sachin Tendulkar, Yuvraj Singh, Zaheer Khan, Harbhajan Singh, Ishant Sharma, Munaf Patel, Dinesh Kaarthick, Suresh Raina, Yusuf Pathan , Pragyan Ojha, Rohit Sharma , Praveen Kumar, Irfan Pathan .

Twenty20 squad:

Mahendra Singh Dhoni (captain and wicketkeeper), Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Yuvraj Singh, Zaheer Khan, Harbhajan Singh, Ishant Sharma, Munaf Patel, Dinesh Kaarthick, Suresh Raina, Yusuf Pathan, Pragyan Ojha, Rohit Sharma, Praveen Kumar, Irfan Pathan, Ravindra Jadeja.