New Delhi: The BCCI today surprised everyone after it announced inclusion of Harbhajan Singh's name for the Test squad against Bangladesh.
The move is seen as an opportunity given to the right-arm spinner to retire from this format of the game.
Earlier there were speculations that the BCCI could give a chance to other players like Ashish Nehra, Zaheer Khan, Virendra Sehwag and Yuvraj Singh to bid adieu their cricketing career.
All these players were sidelined from the mainline cricket after they failed to deliver their best for the team.
According to reports, today's decision on 'Turbanator' was taken after Test skipper Virat Kohli suggested his name.
Harbhajan last played a Test for India in March 2013 against Australia in a home series. The 34-year-old is the third highest Test wicket-taker for India with 413 scalps to his credit in 101 matches.
It should be noted that the Test side would be led by star batsman Virat Kohli after MS Dhoni retired from the longest format the game in January this year. Dhoni will, however, lead the ODI squad.
Also, another surprise was to see left-arm spinner Ravindra Jadeja's exclusion from the Test squad. He had played sporadically during India's four-Test series in Australia before World Cup 2015.
Few names from IPL like Yuzvendra Chahal and Shreyas Iyer were doing the rounds for the ODIs against Bangladesh.
Chahal, who plays for Haryana in domestic cricket, is presently a part of Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) in this season and is also one the leading wicket taker.
Iyer is a promising opener for Delhi Daredevils in IPL. The right-handed batsman has scored over 400 runs in 14 games and is the leading contender of Emerging Player of the Tournament Award.
The Bangladesh series is a fresh start for India after the 2015 World Cup.
The Indian cricket team will arrive in Bangladesh on June 7 to play lone Test and three One-Day International (ODI) matches. Fatullah's Khan Shaheb Osman Ali Stadium will host the Test from June 10 while all three ODIs will be played on June 18, 21 and 24 in Mirpur.
