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Although Yuvraj Singh has smashed three consecutive tons in the ongoing Ranji Trophy recently, his return to form is unlikely to have any bearing on the national selectors when they meet today at the Board of Control for Cricket India (BCCI) headquarters to finalise the 15 players, who will defend India's world title in Australia-New Zealand.
Sandeep Patil & Co will trim the list of 30 probables released last month and wherein Yuvraj, the 2011 World Cup Player of the Tournament, was not included.
The International Cricket Council (ICC) rules, however, permits a player to be included in the squad of 15 despite having missed out in the list of 30 probables.
Yuvraj was tipped to replace the injured Ravindra Jadeja, but it is learnt that the Saurashtra all-rounder is very much in the selectors' frame. A fit Jadeja solves the team's balance issue and that is the selectors' top-most priority.
Jadeja will be fit soon
Jadeja, who injured his shoulder during a practice session in Australia, is expected to be in top condition for the World Cup, according to the doctor's report in Chennai, where he is currently undergoing rehabilitation.
The BCCI will provide Jadeja a chance in the two warm-up matches (against Australia on Feb 8 and against Afghanistan on Feb 10) before the World Cup kicks off.
If the left-arm spinner is given a go ahead then one member from the squad will have to be left out. Meanwhile, it is also learnt that the selectors are nurturing the idea of retaining opener Murali Vijay in the World Cup squad after his terrific show in the ongoing Test series Down Under.
There us also a good chance of the selectors giving the team management an option of having a seaming all-rounder by including Stuart Binny in the squad.
Ravichandran Ashwin and Axar Patel will take care of the spin department with Jadeja in stand-by mode, while Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Ishant Sharma, Mohd Shami and Umesh Yadav will form the pace department.
Meanwhile, for the tri-series against Australia and England, the team management is keen to take along a squad of 18. Players like Kuldeep Yadav, Karn Sharma, Kedar Jadhav and Manoj Tiwary are in the reckoning.
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