MUMBAI: India on Wednesday selected Harbhajan Singh for the one-off Test in Bangladesh next month, ending the veteran off-spinner’s two-year absence from the international game.

The 34-year-old, whose 413 wickets in 101 Tests make him the most successful current spinner in the game, last played for India in the Hyderabad Test against Australia in March 2013.

Harbhajan replaces left-arm spinner Ravindra Jadeja, who was dropped from the squad that lost in Australia in 2014-15, “With several left-handers in the Bangladesh team, we decided to go in with two off-spinners in Harbhajan and [Ravichandran] Ashwin in the Test squad, “chairman of selectors Sandeep Patil told reporters in Mumbai. “We discussed it with captain Virat Kohli, and a decision was taken after considering other options.”

Bangladesh openers Tamim Iqbal and Imrul Kayes, Shakib Al Hasan, Mominul Haque and Soumya Sarkar, all left-handers, plundered runs during the recent home series against Pakistan.

The selectors named full-strength Test and one-day squads for the short tour, despite media speculation that senior players may be rested after being on the road since October.

Injured seamer Mohammed Shami was the lone omission because of a knee injury as the selectors picked the same one-day squad which reached the World Cup semi-finals under Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s captaincy earlier this year.

Shami’s place in the ODI squad is taken by Dhawal Kulkarni.

Virat Kohli, who took over the Test captaincy after Dhoni retired from the longer format during the Australian tour, was reappointed captain for the lone Test match in Fatullah from June 10-14.

The Test will be followed by three ODIs in Dhaka on June 18, 21 and 24.

Squads:

Test: Virat Kohli (captain), Murali Vijay, Shikhar Dhawan, Lokesh Rahul, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane, Rohit Sharma, Wriddhiman Saha, Ravichandran Ashwin, Harbhajan Singh, Karn Sharma, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Umesh Yadav, Varun Aaron, Ishant Sharma.

ODI: Mahendra Singh Dhoni (captain), Rohit Sharma, Rahane, Dhawan, Kohli, Suresh Raina, Ambati Rayudu, Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Kumar, Yadav, Mohit Sharma, Stuart Binny, Dhawal Kulkarni.

Published in Dawn, May 21th, 2015

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