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Sanju Samson gets India call-up
Kerala wicketkeeper batsman Sanju Samson and Railways leg-spinner Karn Sharma have earned a maiden India call up after being selected to the Indian team for the five ODIs and a solitary Twenty20 International against England. Mumbai paceman Dhawal Kulkarni has also been included in the 17-member squad.
Cheteshwar Pujara and Gautam Gambhir, who are part of the ongoing five-match Test series team, were omitted along with Yuvraj Singh as selectors gave first indication of their 2015 World Cup plans. In-form Karnataka opener Robin Uthappa also missed the flight to England for the series starting August 25 and concluding on September 7.
The selection panel headed by Sandeep Patil held discussions with captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni and coach Duncan Fletcher through video conference before finalising the squad and have rewarded fringe players. Shikhar Dhawan and Rohit Sharma are set to keep their opening slots with vice-captain Virat Kohli to form the crux of the batting.
Samson has been consistent with the Rajasthan Royals and was the highest run-getter for India A with 244 runs at an average of 81.33 in seven matches on the recent Australia sojourn. Samson’s promise at the young age of 19, seems to have gone in his favour at the expense of in-form wicketkeeper batsman Naman Ojha who was recently included in the Test squad for his outstanding performances in Australia.
The 26-year-old Karn who was also in Australia with the A team has been a consistent performer in the IPL and domestic matches and got the nod ahead of the young spin duo of Akshar Patel and Parvez Rasool.
Karn’s teammate in Sunrisers Hyderabad Amit Mishra also a leg-spinner was ruled out due to a back injury. Pacer Ishant Sharma is also recuperating from an injury.
Kulkarni emerged the highest wicket-taker (14 scalps) for India A in the just concluded quadrangular A-Team ODI tournament in Australia which the Indians won. Kulkarni was picked in the ODI squad for the home series against West Indies last year but was then ruled out with injury.
Ambati Rayudu and Stuart Binny who were part of the ODI squad to Bangladesh for three ODIs that comprised mostly the domestic and IPL performers have retained their place along with relatively experienced players Suresh Raina and Ajinkya Rahane. Pujara and Uthappa failed to impress selectors who also ignored inform Maharashtra batsman Kedar Jadhav and Bengal’s mainstay Manoj Tiwary.
Umesh Yadav, one of the stars of the first-class matches on the A tour, retained his place along with Mohit Sharma. Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mohammed Shami and Kulkarni are the other pacers in the squad.
“Considering the World Cup, the emphasis was laid on including the young players, that is why players such as Sanju Samson, Karn Sharma, Mohit Sharma and Stuart Binny are there in the team,” BCCI secretary Sanjay Patel told reporters here.
MARACANA - WEMBLEY - LUSAIL - MIAMI 
