ESPNcricinfo staff
March 7, 2012
Virender Sehwag has been left out of the India squad for the one-off Twenty20 international against South Africa on March 30 in Johannesburg. Robin Uthappa and Yusuf Pathan return to the Twenty20 setup for the game, and fast bowler Ashok Dinda has been picked ahead of Umesh Yadav. MS Dhoni will lead the side, with Virat Kohli as the vice-captain.
Sehwag and Zaheer Khan have been rested for the Asia Cup, which starts on March 11, and will remain out of the squad for the one-off Twenty20, which will be played a week after the Asia Cup final. The squad is almost identical to the Asia Cup squad, with Robin Uthappa's inclusion in place of Sachin Tendulkar, who has played only one Twenty20 international, in 2006, the only change. Uthappa played the Twenty20 match during England's tour of India in October last year, his first international match for three years.
Ajinkya Rahane, who was given a run in the limited-overs side during the tour of England and the home season before being dropped for the tri-series in Australia, continues to be left out. Dinda's inclusion means Yadav will have to wait till after the IPL to make his return to the India squad.
Indian Squad Foe Only T20 vs South Africa: MS Dhoni (capt), Virat Kohli (vc), Robin Uthappa, Gautam Gambhir, Rohit Sharma, Suresh Raina, Ravindra Jadeja, R Ashwin, Praveen Kumar, Vinay Kumar, Rahul Sharma, Yusuf Pathan, Manoj Tiwary, Irfan Pathan, Ashok Dinda