India's cricket selectors on Sunday included uncapped all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja for the five one-day matches and a Twenty20 international against Sri Lanka starting later this month. Jadeja, 20, replaced injured off-spinner Harbhajan Singh in the 15-man squad announced by Indian cricket board's joint secretary Sanjay Jagdale here. “Harbhajan Singh is suffering from a hamstring injury and Jadeja will take his place in the squad,” Jagdale said. Left-handed Jadeja gave a good account of himself in India's premier first-class tournament for the Ranji Trophy, picking 42 wickets from nine matches while scoring 739 runs. Medium-pacer Praveen Kumar was recalled at the expense of batsman Virat Kohli after being ignored for the home one-day series against England which India won 5-0. The Indians will play the first two one-dayers in the central town of Dambulla on Jan. 28 and 30. The remaining three games will be held in Colombo on Feb. 2, 5 and 8. The Twenty20 international is to be played in Colombo on Feb. 10. India last toured Sri Lanka in July-August 2008, losing the Tests 2-1 before winning the one day series 3-2. Squad: Mahendra Singh Dhoni (captain), Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Sachin Tendulkar, Yuvraj Singh, Rohit Sharma, Suresh Raina, Ravindra Jadeja, Yusuf Pathan, Zaheer Khan, Ishant Sharma, Munaf Patel, Pragyan Ojha, Irfan Pathan, Praveen Kumar. Coach: Gary Kirsten. Form worries Jayawardene Sri Lanka captain Mahela Jayawardene expressed concern on Sunday about his ability to still play big innings in one-day cricket ahead of his team's three-match series against Pakistan starting on Tuesday. Jayawardene has scored four ducks in his last five one-day limited overs innings. “I have two roles in the team, as a captain and as a batsman and when I am not scoring runs it is a bit worrying. But I have been working on it and I need to apply myself more. I have faced no problems in test matches,” he told a news conference in Karachi. Pakistan invited Sri Lanka after India pulled out of a scheduled Test tour last month for security reasons. The Sri Lankan captain said his players had discussed the security situation in Pakistan before the tour was confirmed. “We all felt that as an international team we had an obligation to fulfill commitments made by our board and also to do the same for Pakistan for what they have done for us in the past,” he said. Sri Lankan spin magicians Muttiah Muralitharan and Ajantha Mendis, however, loom as major threats for Pakistan. The 36-year-old Muralitharan, already the highest wicket-taker in Test cricket with 769, will have the extra motivation of overhauling the tally of one-day wickets, currently held by Pakistan's Wasim Akram with 502. The wily off-spinner needs just nine wickets to become the highest wicket-taker in both forms of the game. But the unorthodox Mendis holds more challenges for the home team. The 23-year-old army officer is not a big turner of the ball like his more illustrious partner Muralitharan, but the key to his success is the way he grips the ball with his fingers and flicks it to bowl a variety of deliveries.
