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Sehwag axed from squad

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.


NOT CONTEMPLATING RETIREMENT: SEHWAG


Vowing to fight back to regain his place in the Indian team, opener Virender Sehwag on Thursday said that he was not contemplating retirement from international cricket. Out-of-form opener Sehwag vowed to make a comeback into the national side, saying ‘I trust my game.’

‘Will continue to work hard for my place in the team. I trust my game and am confident that I’ll be back,’ he wrote on his twitter page. He also wished good luck to the MS Dhoni-led side for the remainder of the series, which the hosts are leading 2-0 after crushing victories in the first two Tests in Chennai and Hyderabad.

‘Best wishes to the team,’ Sehwag wrote. Sehwag had failed to fire in five consecutive Tests after getting a hundred in the opening game of the home series against England at Ahmedabad in November-December last year.
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