Gambhir, Yuvraj out of India’s Champions Trophy squad

Fast bowler Umesh Yadav returns from his back injury, all-rounder Irfan Pathan also gets a recall.

MUMBAI: Experienced batsmen Gautam Gambhir and Yuvraj Singh were left out of India's 15-man squad for the Champions Trophy, the country's cricket board said on Saturday.

Left-handed opener Shikhar Dhawan, who last played a 50-over match for India in June 2011, got the nod ahead of Gambhir while wicket-keeper batsman Dinesh Karthik, who can also open the batting, was recalled after almost three years.

The other opener in the squad, Murali Vijay, was a surprise inclusion as the right-hander last played an ODI against South Africa in January 2011 and has failed to score a fifty in his 11 matches in the format.

Yuvraj, who made a fairytale comeback last year after battling a rare form of lung cancer, could not find a place in the Indian middle-order with selectors preferring right-handed batsman Rohit Sharma ahead of him.

Fast bowler Umesh Yadav returned from his back injury while all-rounder Irfan Pathan also got a recall. Off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin and leg-spinner Amit Mishra were the two specialist slow bowlers in the squad.

India, the reigning 50-over world champions, are in Group B and will play the opening match of the June 6-23 tournament against South Africa in Cardiff. Pakistan and West Indies are the other teams in the group.

Squad: Mahendra Singh Dhoni (captain), Murali Vijay, Shikhar Dhawan, Dinesh Karthik, Virat Kohli, Suresh Raina, Rohit Sharma, Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Amit Mishra, Irfan Pathan, Umesh Yadav, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Ishant Sharma, R Vinay Kumar.