Yuvraj out, Binny and Aaron in

sns & agencies
Mumbai, 31 December
India’s cricket selectors today dropped Yuvraj Singh and picked rookie all-rounder Stuart Binny and paceman Varun Aaron in a 16-member One-Day International side for a tour of New Zealand starting on 19 January. 
India will be playing five ODIs and two Test matches during the month-long series to be held up to 18 February. 
Rohit Sharma retained his place in the Test side despite his woeful performance in the two Tests in South Africa while left-arm spinner Pragyan Ojha was dropped. Pace bowler Ishwar Pandey is the only new man in the Test side. 
The five ODIs will be held at Napier (19 January), Hamilton (22 January and 28 January), Auckland (25 January) and Wellington (31 January). The two Tests will be hosted by Auckland (from 6 February) and Wellington (from  14 February).
 Yuvraj got out on zero off the second ball he faced the only time he came out to bat in the lost three-match ODI series against South Africa. A surprise inclusion was Madhya Pradesh seamer Pandey, who has been drafted into both the ODI and Test squads.
Fit-again paceman Varun Aaron, 24, has made a comeback to the ODI squad replacing Mohit Sharma, who failed to impress in South Africa. The Test team was not altered too much with Ishwar supplanting Pragyan Ojha being the only change.
Ojha did not get a single game in the two-match series against South Africa which India lost 0-1 yesterday. The  India One-day squad is all set to leave for the tour of New Zealand, where it will play a five-match series against the hosts from January 19, a week in advance in order to get acclimatised to the weather and pitch conditions there.

Squads: ODIs: Mahendra Singh Dhoni (captain), Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Ajinkya Rahane, Ambati Rayudu, Suresh Raina, R. Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mohammed Shami, Ishant Sharma, Amit Mishra, Ishwar Pandey, Stuart Binny, Varun Aaron. 
Test series: Mahendra Singh Dhoni (captain), Shikhar Dhawan, Murali Vijay, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Ajinkya Rahane, Ravindra Jadeja, Zaheer Khan, Mohammed Shami, Ishant Sharma, Ambati Rayudu, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Ravichandran Ashwin, Umesh Yadav, Wriddhiman Saha, Ishwar Pandey. 

Test rankings: Cheteshwar Pujara remained the best-placed Indian batsman at No 7, while R Ashwin too held the same position on the bowlers’ list of the latest Test rankings issued today.
Murali Vijay and Ajinkya Rahane, who missed out on centuries in the lost second Test to South Africa yesterday, made significant gains.
Vijay, who scored 97 and six, earned six places and is now 38th while Rahane, who scored 51 not out and 96, has rocketed 63 places to 65th. These are the career-best rankings of the two India youngsters till date. 

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‘True champion’: Sachin Tendulkar today paid tributes to South African all-rounder Jacques Kallis, calling him a “true champion” who always played the game in the right spirit. “@jacqueskallis75 Congratulations on a fabulous career. You have played the game in the right spirit….It’s been a joy to have played against you. Jacques you are a true Champion. Retired life isn’t so bad :-)),” Tendulkar, who had called time on his own career in international cricket last month,
tweeted.

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