New Delhi: Left arm seamer Ashish Nehra returned to the national fold after four years while young all rounder Abhishek Nayar was the lone new face in India’s 16-man squad for the ODI tour of the West Indies for which key players Sachin Tendulkar and Zaheer Khan were rested. The 30-year-old Nehra, who last played a one-day international in September 2005, was rewarded for his fine show in the recent IPL with a berth in the squad which has no place for Irfan Pathan and an injured Suresh Raina.

The 25-year-old Mumbai all rounder Nayar was also rewarded for his consistent performance in domestic cricket and the recent IPL by being named in the squad to be captained by Mahendra Singh Dhoni with Yuvraj Singh as his deputy.

The Indians will leave for the West Indies from London on Thursday. Nehra, who has played 17 Tests and 72 ODIs before going out of favour, got the nod ahead of fellow pacers Munaf Patel and S Sreesanth. The Delhi bowler, who has been plagued by injuries right through his career, had last played an ODI against New Zealand in 2005 and it remains to be seen whether he gets an opportunity to play in the matches. The team already has Ishant Sharma, Praveen Kumar and R P Singh as the main pacers while Harbhajan Singh and Pragyan Ojha were the two specialist spinners.

Tamil Nadu opener Murali Vijay and middle order batsman S Badrinath were recalled in the squad announced by The Indians will leave for the West Indies from London on Thursday. Nehra, who has played 17 Tests and 72 ODIs before going out of favour, got the nod ahead of fellow pacers Munaf Patel and S Sreesanth. The Delhi bowler, who has been plagued by injuries right through his career, had last played an ODI against New Zealand in 2005 and it remains to be seen whether he gets an opportunity to play in the matches. The team already has Ishant Sharma, Praveen Kumar and R P Singh as the main pacers while Harbhajan Singh and Pragyan Ojha were the two specialist spinners.

In the absence of regular opener Virender Sehwag, the selectors opted for Vijay though Rohit Sharma, who opened the innings in the T20 World Cup could carry on with the job along with Gautam Gambhir. Badrinath got a look-in mainly because of Suresh Raina’s injury and the Tamil Nadu middle order batsman, who had a decent outing in the recent IPL, would be keen to cement his place if given the opportunity. Dinesh Karthik, who replaced in the T20 World Cup squad, was retained as the second specialist wicketkeeper. The squad has three all-rounders in Yusuf Pathan, Ravindra Jadeja and Nayar.
Two of the selectors – Chairman K Srikkanth and Raja Venkat — were in England. They communicated with their three colleagues via a teleconference.

Dhoni, Gary Kirsten, Srinivasan, convener of the All-India Selection Committee, also participated in the meeting.

Indian Squad For West Indies ODI’s Series: MS Dhoni (capt/wk), Yuvraj Singh, Gautam Gambhir, Rohit Sharma, Harbhajan Singh, Pragyan Ojha, Yusuf Pathan, Murali Vijay, S Badrinath, RP Singh, Praveen Kumar, Ishant Sharma, Abhishek Nayar, Ashish Nehra, Ravindra Jadeja, Dinesh Karthik.