Sehwag axed from Test squad

Mumbai, March 7 (IANS) Once explosive India opener Virender Sehwag was Thursday dropped from the squad for the last two Tests against Australia, after failing to perform and impress the selectors.

The All-India Senior Selection Committee of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), trimmed the side to a 14-member squad, naming no replacement for the 34-year-old batsman.

Sehwag, who was already in the limelight for not performing consistently in the last two years, scored only 27 runs from three innings at an average of 9 in the first two Tests of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. His figures read 2, 19 and 6.

Delhi state mate Shikhar Dhawan is likely to make his debut and open the innings with Murali Vijay, who scored a solid 167 in the second Test in Hyderabad to cement his place in the team.

Sehwag was also dropped from the one-day international (ODI) squad in January in the series against England which India won 3-2.

The Delhi batsman has an impressive record in Tests having scored 8586 runs from 104 Tests at an average of 49.34. However, he has been going through a slump in form for some time now.

He last scored a century in the first of the four Tests against England last November, where he made a swashbuckling 117. This was his first three figure score in two years as his last century before this came in November 2010 against New Zealand.

India currently lead the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2-0. The third Test will be played at Mohali from March 14-18 and the fourth at Delhi from March 22-26.

India Squad:

Mahendra Singh Dhoni (captain/wicketkeeper), Murali Vijay, Cheteshwar Pujara, Sachin Tendulkar, Virat Kohli, Ravindra Jadeja, Harbhajan Singh, Ravichandran Ashwin, Pragyan Ojha, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Ajinkya Rahane, Ashok Dinda, Shikhar Dhawan, Ishant Sharma.

IANS 2013-03-07 13:52:07