India recalls Sehwag for SL

India have recalled opener Virender Sehwag for the upcoming one-day series against Sri Lanka, their last before the World Cup.

Chief selector Dilip Vengsarkar explained that the 28 year old was dropped because he was out of form, but after an enforced rest, he would be fine settling into a new role as a middle order batsman.

“We’d want Sehwag to bat in the middle order in the next couple of matches, but he’s not ruled out as an opener for the future,” he said.

Sehwag also had the support of former batsman and selection panel chief Chandu Borde prior to his inclusion in the 15 man squad.

“Sehwag needs to get back his confidence, but he’s a contributor to the team’s cause. Like Sachin Tendulkar, who showed yesterday what he’s capable of after struggling a bit earlier, Sehwag too can murder the bowling,” he said.

The four match series against Sri Lanka starts on February 8th in Kolkata, with the announcement of the World Cup squad four days later.

Squad: Rahul Dravid (capt), Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly, Yuvraj Singh, MS Dhoni, R Uthappa, Ajit Agarkar, Zaheer Khan, Harbhajan Singh, Anil Kumble, Dinesh Karthik, Irfan Pathan, Munaf Patel, Virender Sehwag, Sreesanth