Siraj gets India call

Mumbai: Shreyas Iyer was included in India's team for the upcoming three-match Twenty20 International series against New Zealand, while Hyderabad pacer Mohammed Siraj earned his maiden international call-up.

Shreyas replaced Kedar Jadhav, who was dropped from the T20I squad after a below-par showing in the three-match series against Australia.
In a strange move, veteran pacer Ashish Nehra too was included in the T20I squad, but only for the first match of the New Zealand series after which he will quit international cricket.

Siraj, who impressed in domestic cricket last season after a good showing in this year's Indian Premier League, is the 16th member of the squad, which will come down to 15 following Nehra's departure after the first game.

Nehra will bow out of international cricket after the first T20 against New Zealand at his home ground in New Delhi on November 1. Asked if Nehra was picked for just one game to give him a chance to say farewell to cricket in front of his home fans, Prasad did not give a clear reply, but hinted that he would have been dropped anyway after the New Zealand series to make way for youngsters.

"There are lot of apprehensions going on about Ashish Nehra. I will make it very clear and candid, you all know that communication has been our strong point. We have clearly communicated to the player, that is Ashish Nehra, and the team management that we are only looking at him till the New Zealand series.

After that, if you see the pattern with which we have selected India ‘A’ players, the same bowlers we have been continuing for the past one-and-half years, in all the ‘A’ tours; that means they are very much in line, and they have really done well in South Africa and also at home against New Zealand.

"So this message has been very clearly communicated and we are happy that the player also took it in the right spirit that the new generation is coming up and instead of waiting till the end of New Zealand series, he felt that after the Delhi game itself he will quit so that the others can (get a chance)."

Asked whether Nehra will play the Delhi game since it is his last match in international cricket, Prasad replied: "We can’t say that. Whether is going to play or not, it is the team management and selectors who will take the call. There is no assurance from our side whether he is going to play or not; it is purely the team management that will decide on that particular day."

Chairman of selectors MSK Prasad said both Iyer and Siraj merited selection following their consistent showing in domestic cricket and also for India 'A' and in the Indian Premier League.

"Shreyas Iyer has been prolific in all forms of the game, be it Test, ODI, T20, IPL. Name anything, he is performing; so we will stick with this policy. "If we pick a player we will give him an extended run and we will continue with him for some point and nurture him and see that he goes on to become successful.

"Same with Siraj; he is doing well and has been duly rewarded," he added. Interestingly, the selectors also named the team for the first two Tests of the three-match series against Sri Lanka, starting next month.

There were reports that captain Virat Kohli may skip the third and final Test against Sri Lanka and also the limited-overs series that follows to take a break before the team embarks on the tour of South Africa. Prasad made it clear that some of the players, including the likes of Kohli who has been playing across all formats, will definitely be given rest.

"Considering the workload and the international schedule that we have right now, we are definitely rotating the players, and it is too premature to say right now to whom we are (resting). If you see the pattern with which we are selecting, you can clearly see and we will let you know at the appropriate time."

Squad for T20Is: Virat Kohli (captain), Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan, KL Rahul, Shreyas Iyer, Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Dinesh Karthik, Manish Pandey, Hardik Pandya, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Axar Patel, Jasprit Bumrah, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Ashish Nehra (only for first match), Mohammed Siraj.

Squad for Sri Lanka Tests: Virat Kohli (captain), Shikhar Dhawan, Cheteshwar Pujara, KL Rahul, Murali Vijay, Ajinkya Rahane, Rohit Sharma, Wriddhiman Saha, Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav, Hardik Pandya, Umesh Yadav, Mohammed Shami, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Ishant Sharma.

Board President XI: Naman Ojha (captain, wicket-keeper), Sanju Samson, Jiwanjot Singh, B Sandeep, Tanmay Agarwal, Abhishek Gupta, Rohan Prem, Akash Bhandari, Jalaj Saxena, C V Milind, Avesh Khan, Sandeep Warrier, Ravi Kiran.