Sehwag and Zaheer return, Tendulkar skips SL tour

India's squad for the tour of Sri Lanka

Sachin Plays a flick shot.

• MS Dhoni (capt & wk), Virat Kohli (vice-capt), Gautam Gambhir, Rohit Sharma, Suresh Raina, Manoj Tiwary, R Ashwin, Vinay Kumar, Rahul Sharma, Ashok Dinda, Pragyan Ojha, Virender Sehwag, Zaheer Khan, Umesh Yadav, Ajinkya Rahane
• Out: Ravindra Jadeja, Irfan Pathan, Yusuf Pathan, Praveen Kumar
• In: Ajinkya Rahane, Pragyan Ojha, Virender Sehwag, Zaheer Khan, Umesh Yadav
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The lack of an allrounder is the major surprise in the 15-man India squad for the limited-overs tour of Sri Lanka. It has been quite some time since there has been an India squad without at least one of Ravindra Jadeja and the Pathan brothers, all three of whom have been the chief contenders for the allrounder's position at No. 7. Jadeja's debut game in February 2009, against Sri Lanka, had also proved to be Irfan's last for close to three years, before he made a comeback in December 2011 against West Indies. The comeback has lasted eight games spread over three series. A disappointing Jadeja was surprisingly persisted with throughout the CB series in Australia earlier this year, while Irfan was restricted to four games. Jadeja's run has finally come to a halt now, but so has Irfan's. Yusuf's return has lasted all of one Asia Cup game, but his terrible IPL season seems to have gone against him.

No allrounder in the squad means it is increasingly unclear as to whether anyone is ahead in the latest round in the fight for the allrounder's slot. It seems that the fight itself has been called off for the moment, which is startling for a side that has often lacked balance due to the absence of a genuine allrounder. With four specialist fast bowlers picked, it would appear as though there was at least a case for picking Irfan ahead of Vinay Kumar.

The emphasis is on specialists for the series, with three spinners chosen. But that seems a luxury, given Dhoni's usual reliance on his part-time options such as Suresh Raina and Rohit Sharma. Unless India play five specialist bowlers, something Dhoni is not a fan of, the bowling resources will be under-utilised.

Again, Sachin Tendulkar's pick-and-choose policy does not help the long-term balance of the squad, but when the chairman of selectors says that "Sachin is spacing it out very well", there is not much left to be said.