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Yuvi shows he can, BCCI agrees

Yuvraj Singh has been included in the Indian cricket team for World T20 Championship in Sri Lanka as well as the two T20s against New Zealand in September, within months of his recovery from a rare germ cell cancer. In another interesting pick, senior off-spinner Harbhajan Singh has also been recalled to the team after a gap of one year along with the veteran seamer Lakshmipathy Balaji, who makes a comeback after three years.

Yuvraj's selection was on the cards after he was declared fit by the physio and trainer at the National Cricket Academy, where he had been camping for the past one month. 'Yuvraj has been declared fit, so he makes a comeback. And all of us know, if he gets going, he can single-handedly win matches,' said the chairman of selectors Krishnamachari Srikkanth on Friday.

The two T20s against New Zealand, slated for first week of September, will be a test for Yuvraj, who underwent chemotherapy in the USA earlier this year. The southpaw has been out of action since the second Test against West Indies played in November 2011 in Kolkata.

The selection committee took around three and half hours to decide on the two squads, the bone of contention being the selection of Yuvraj and Harbhajan. According to sources, Yuvraj's selection was not exactly unanimous, as a couple of selection committee members were apprehensive about picking him for the T20 World Cup starting 18 September, as he has not played a single competitive match for the past nine months. However, his class and experience in the shortest format was the logic behind his selection, apart from the popular sentiment to bring him back, which definitely played a part.

Harbhajan's selection was simply based on his past record, as India's spin department is pretty thin on experience. He last played for India against England at Trent Bridge in July 2011. The surprise inclusion is Piyush Chawla, who has done precious little in the domestic season gone by. But a dearth of quality leg-break bowlers was the reason behind the Uttar Pradesh player getting the nod ahead of the likes of Rahul Sharma and Amit Mishra.

The squad: MS Dhoni [captain], Gautam Gambhir [vice-captain], Virender Sehwag, Yuvraj Singh, Virat Kohli, Suresh Raina, Manoj Tiwary, Rohit Sharma, Irfan Pathan, Ravichandran Ashwin, Zaheer Khan, Lakshmipathy Balaji, Piyush Chawla, Harbhajan Singh and Ashok Dinda.
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