Middle-order batsman Kedar Jadhav and speedster Shardul Thakur were back in the 17-member India squad for the six-match ODI series in South Africa but KL Rahul failed to make the cut despite back-to-back half-centuries in the T20 series against Sri Lanka.
Senior spinners Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja were once again ignored by the selectors, who backed the young trio of slow bowlers -- wrist spinners Yuzvendra Chahal and Kuldeep Yadav along with left-arm spinner Axar Patel. Chairman of selectors MSK Prasad made it clear that they are looking to give Yadav and Chahal a longer rope since they had decided to look at wrist spinners after the Champions Trophy. "We keep on repeating that after Champions Trophy, we tried with the new boys -- Chahal and Kuldeep -- and we are being consistent with Axar," chairman of selectors MSK Prasad said after the selection meeting here.
Senior pacer Mohammed Shami made a comeback in the ODI team while Shardul came back in place of Siddarth Kaul, who was in the squad for the three-match series against Sri Lanka.
One of the players who was unfortunate to miss out was Rahul, who has played two dazzling knocks in the two T20s against Sri Lanka.
But with Shikhar Dhawan and vice-captain Rohit Sharma being automatic choices and Ajinkya Rahane being specifically looked as an opener in the 50-over version, there was no place for Rahul as the fourth opener.
Shreyas Iyer is being looked as a possible batsman for the number four slot.
"We are discussing Rahul's batting position. Because the class and the form that he is in, it is really unfortunate that (he) is missing out.
"Right now those boys who are there in the squad have done well and it makes sense to continue with them. May be in times to come, KL will definitely get a look-in. We will try and see different options. Probably after this series, we have to think about that," Prasad said.
He also informed that the T20 squad will be a separate one and they are moving towards a direction where the three formats will have their own specialists.
Prasad made it clear that Mahendra Singh Dhoni is set to continue till the 2019 World Cup as some of the younger keepers, who have been tried, are not even close to the former Indian captain's level. Asked if they are looking at Dhoni on a series by series basis, Prasad said: "We are grooming some wicketkeepers during India A tours. But more or less, we have fixed up (our) minds till the World Cup (on continuing with Dhoni) and after that at later stages we will start grooming some of those (wicket- keepers)."
"There is no comparison and I don't see any wicket- keeper, who can even come closer to him in world cricket, leave alone Indian Cricket," his statement more or less sealed the fate of all young keepers till the 2019 World Cup.
What Prasad said after that would be pretty disturbing for the likes of Pant and Sanju Samson, who are next in line. "Let me tell you frankly, those boys still are not up to the level as what we would have expected. We will still be giving them chances on India A tours and see that they are nurtured," Prasad, himself a former India stumper, said.
Squad: Virat Kohli (Captain), Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan, Ajinkya Rahane, Shreyas Iyer, Manish Pandey, Kedar Jadhav, MS Dhoni (wk), Dinesh Karthik, Hardik Pandya, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Mohammed Shami, Jasprit Bumrah, Axar Patel, Shardul Thakur, Bhuvaneshwar Kumar.