India's cricket chiefs Monday allowed veteran Sachin Tendulkar to skip the upcoming Asia Cup in Sri Lanka, while Yuvraj Singh was dropped from the 15-man squad. Mahendra Singh Dhoni will captain India in the four-nation limited-overs tournament against Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh, in Dambulla from June 15 to 24. Tendulkar, 37, has not played for India since Feb. 24, when he hit an unprecedented double-century in a One-Day International against South Africa in Gwalior. The world's most prolific Test and one-day batsman turned out for MumbaiIndians in the Indian Premier League in March-April, before being rested for a tri-series in Zimbabwe also featuring Sri Lanka. “Tendulkar requested the board not to consider him for the Asia Cup as he wanted to spend time with his children in view of the hectic cricket season ahead,” BCCI secretary N. Srinivasan said in a statement. Left-hander Yuvraj was axed after scoring just 74 runs in five matches in the World Twenty20 in the Caribbean in April-May, where India failed to make the semifinals. In five One-Day Internationals this year, Yuvraj has managed only 96 runs, 74 of them coming in one match against Sri Lanka in Dhaka. Six players who were rested for the Zimbabwe tri-series - Dhoni, Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Harbhajan Singh, Zaheer Khan and Ashish Nehra - are back for the Asia Cup. The second-string Indian team did not qualify for the final in Zimbabwe after losing twice to the hosts and once to Sri Lanka. Attacking left-hand batsman Saurabh Tiwary, 20, who plays for MumbaiIndians in the IPL, is the only new face in the squad. Squad: Mahendra Singh Dhoni (captain), Virender Sehwag (vice captain), Gautam Gambhir, Virat Kohli, Suresh Raina, Rohit Sharma, Ravindra Jadeja, Harbhajan Singh, Praveen Kumar, Zaheer Khan, Ashish Nehra, Pragyan Ojha, Ashok Dinda, Ravichandran Ashwin, Saurabh Tiwary. Paine wins Australian recall Wicketkeeper Tim Paine has been recalled to the Australian one-day cricket team as a replacement for the injured Brad Haddin. Paine, who has played 17 limited-overs internationals for Australia, will join the team for one-day matches this month against England. Haddin is sidelined with tennis elbow and may also miss Australia's two Test matches against Pakistan in July, opening the way for Paine to make his Test debut. Paine made his ODI debut for Australia last September and posted a high score of 111 against England at Trent Bridge in the sixth match of last year's limited
