Tendulkar returns to India's ODI team for SA series

Master batsman Sachin Tendulkar has made a return to India's ODI team for the first time since he scored an unbeaten 200, the first in the format's history, against South Africa in February 2010.

Tendulkar has been named in the 16-man squad to play the one-off Twenty20 International and the five-match ODI series in South Africa. The one-off Twenty20 International will be played on 9 January at Durban's Moses Mahibda Stadium and the ODI series kicks off on 12 January at Durban.

Also returning to the squad, after taking a break in the ODI series against New Zealand, are skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Virender Sehwag and Harbhajan Singh.

One notable recall to the squad is leg-spinner Piyush Chawla, who returns to the ODI team for the first time since the tri-series held in Zimbabwe earlier this year, in place of all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja.

The ODI series between India and South Africa is the last engagement for the two sides before the ICC Cricket World Cup 2011 gets underway on 19 February, 2011.

Team: MS Dhoni (captain), Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Sachin Tendulkar, Virat Kohli, Suresh Raina, Yuvraj Singh, Harbhajan Singh, Zaheer Khan, Ashish Nehra, Praveen Kumar, Munaf Patel, R Ashwin, Yusuf Pathan, Piyush Chawla, S Sreesanth.