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Uthappa back in T20 squad as selectors retain same 15 for ODIs

Last updated on: October 17, 2011 23:11 IST

The national selection committee recalled burly Karnataka [ Images ] opener Robin Uthappa [ Images ] to the squad for the one-off Twenty20 [ Images ] international against England [ Images ], at Eden Gardens on October 29. 

Uthappa will replace senior opener Gautam Gambhir [ Images ], who will skip the match due to his marriage.

Also returning to the shortest format is T20 specialist Yusuf Pathan [ Images ], who replaces Parthiv Patel [ Images ] in the squad.

However, the ODI squad is unchanged for the remainder of the series, which means senior off-spinner Harbhajan Singh [ Images ] was again ignored by the selectors. 

Uthappa played his last international for India [ Images ] more than three years ago, against Sri Lanka [ Images ] in Karachi. He has played 38 ODIs and nine T20 internationals for India. 

His knocks of 56 and 132 for India Green in the recently-concluded NKP Salve Challenger Series in Nagpur helped him make a comeback to the squad. With Gambhir opting out of the tie, there is a possibility that Uthappa might open the batting. 

ODI squad (for last 3 matches): M S Dhoni [ Images ] (Captain), Gautam Gambhir, Ajinkya Rahane [ Images ], Suresh Raina [ Images ], Virat Kohli [ Images ], Parthiv Patel, Ravindra Jadeja [ Images ], Ravichandran Ashwin, Praveen Kumar [ Images ], Vinay Kumar, Umesh Yadav, Manoj Tiwary, Varun Aaron, Rahul Sharma, S Arvind.

T20 Squad: M S Dhoni (captain), Suresh Raina, Ajinkya Rahane, Virat Kohli, Yusuf Pathan, Ravindra Jadeja, R Ashwin, Praveen Kumar, Vinay Kumar, Umesh Yadav, Manoj Tiwary, Varun Aaron, Robin Uthappa, Rahul Sharma, S Arvind.