If Ajinkya Rahane had to be dropped for not living up to expectations with the bat in the limited opportunities he got last season, so did Yuvraj Singh and Gautam Gambhir. While Yuvraj tallied 160 runs in eight innings against England and Pakistan, Gambhir totalled just one run more. The selectors decided to replace all three. Cheteshwar Pujara, who is recovering from a fractured finger, was going to miss out as the selectors want him fully fit for the India A tour to South Africa towards the end of July.
Shikhar Dhawan was a certainty to come in at the top of the order. Once Manoj Tiwary was unavailable, having injured himself during the IPL, there was no better choice than Dinesh Karthik in the middle order. Not only has the Tamil Nadu batsman been in superlative form during the IPL but he also provides the option of a back-up wicketkeeper. Not at all a like-for-like replacement for Yuvraj, but given the circumstances, Karthik deserved yet another chance to prove his mettle at the highest level.
The most contentious selections in the squad are M Vijay and Amit Mishra. Vijay's selection draws parallels with that of Wasim Jaffer for the ODIs in South Africa in 2006, that of a Test opener being given a chance in ODIs purely on the basis of his technique. But ESPNcricinfo understands that the selectors haven't just gone by Vijay's good form during the Test series against Australia. It was pointed out that Vijay's "run spree" in the Challenger Trophy and in the warm-up one-dayer against England went in his favour.
