Yuvraj to lead Board President XI against Australia

A day after the Australian team landed in India, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has announced the President XI team that will play against the visitors at Hyderabad from 2nd to 5th of October.

Niranjan Shah, the BCCI secretary, declared the 15-member squad which will be headed by India’s ODI vice-captain Yuvraj Singh while S Badrinath will be his deputy.

Apart from them, the batting line-up also boasts of the Delhi duo of veteran Aakash Chopra and youngster Virat Kohli, who are brimming with confidence at the back of a phenomenal run in the recently-concluded Mohammad Nissar Trophy.

Wasim Jaffer and Rohit Sharma, who failed to break into the Irani Trophy squad, have been given an opportunity to get back into the groove.

In the wicketkeeping department, while Dinesh Karthik finds himself left in the lurch, Parthiv Patel has been given an expected look-in. However, Yogesh Takawale, the young stumper from Maharashtra gets a surprise call

The bowling line-up is pretty strong as well, with Irfan Pathan and S Sreesanth leading the pace attack. Piyush Chawla and Pragyan Ojha have been given the onus of handling the spin attack.

On the whole, the Australians will be up against a strong team and is all set to get a perfect practice match before the all important Border-Gavaskar Trophy starting from October 9.

Board President XI Squad: Yuvraj Singh (captain), Subramaniam Badrinath (vice-captain), Wasim Jaffer, Aakash Chopra, Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Parthiv Patel, Irfan Pathan, S Sreesanth, Piyush Chawla, Pragyan Ojha, Pankaj Singh, Manpreet Gony, Yogesh Takawale, Rakesh Dhurv