Rahane to lead India for Zimbabwe tour

New Delhi

Middle order batsman Ajinkya Rahane was yesterday named captain of the 15-member Indian cricket team that will tour Zimbabwe in July as Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Virat Kohli, among other seniors, were rested.

Batsmen Shikhar Dhawan, Suresh Raina, Ravichandran Ashwin, Rohit Sharma and Umesh Yadav were also rested by the Board of Control for Cricket in India's (BCCI) All-India Senior Selection Committee which met here. India will play three One-Day Internationals (ODI) and two Twenty20 Internationals from July 10 to 19 in Harare.

"We are happy with the way Rahane's career is shaping up. He has been the most consistent batsman for India and we want to see his other aspects. So we have given him this opportunity and will keep backing him," said chairman of selectors Sandeep Patil.

"We have decided to rest a few players who need urgent rest. Until players themselves request for a rest, we don't rest them. We sent a full-strength side to Bangladesh but this time the players communicated that they needed rest."

Meanwhile, another middle order bat, Cheteshwar Pujara, has been named skipper of the India A squad for the two four-day games against Australia A. Both games will be played in Chennai -- from July 22 to 25 and from July 29 to August 1.

This will be the first time the legendary Rahul Dravid will be in-charge of the A team since he was appointed India Under-19 and India A coach earlier this month.

Significantly, all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja's name does not figure in the squad - impliedly he has been dropped. The southpaw's performance has dipped of late.