India pick rookie seamer for World Twenty20

CRICKET: NEW DELHI, March 27, 2010:India's cricket selectors on Friday named promising right-arm seamer Vinay Kumar in a 15-man squad for next month's World Twenty20 tournament in the Caribbean.

Kumar, 26, a regular first-class cricketer for Karnataka since 2004, has been impressive with the Bangalore Royal Challengers in the ongoing T20 Indian Premier League.

The selectors also found a place for 21-year-old leg-spinner Piyush Chawla, who has played two Tests and 21 one-dayers, but has yet to appear in a T20 international.

Chawla, who last represented India in 2008, will join off-spinner Harbhajan Singh and left-armer Ravindra Jadeja in a three-man spin attack for the April 30-May 16 tournament.

Mahendra Singh Dhoni will lead the squad and aggressive opener Virender Sehwag will be his deputy, the Board of Control for Cricket in India said in a statement. Record-breaking batsman Sachin Tendulkar was not picked due to his reluctance to play T20 internationals despite his prime form in recent Test and one-day matches.

India squad: Mahendra Singh Dhoni (capt), Virender Sehwag (vice-capt), Gautam Gambhir, Suresh Raina, Yuvraj Singh, Yusuf Pathan, Dinesh Karthik, Rohit Sharma, Harbhajan Singh, Ravindra Jadeja, Piyush Chawla, Zaheer Khan, Praveen Kumar, Ashish Nehra, Vinay Kumar. AFP