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Summary India recalled pace spearhead Zaheer Khan for the Australia tour pending a fitness test.
Mahendra Singh Dhoni will lead the 17-man squad with Virender Sehwag as his deputy for the four-Test series starting next month, the Indian cricket board said in a media release.Injury-prone Zaheer, 33, has been sidelined since damaging a hamstring on the opening day of the Test series in England in July and later also underwent ankle surgery.The left-armers injury triggered a free-fall by the Indians, who were blanked 4-0 in the Test series to lose their number one ranking to the hosts, before being humbled 3-0 in the one-dayers.Zaheer, who has been training at the nets for the last month, must prove his fitness in two first-class games for Mumbai before his selection is confirmed.Harbhajan, whose 406 wickets in 98 Tests make him the most successful international bowler still playing at the top level, has been out of favour since the dismal tour of England.The 31-year-old off-spinner bagged just two wickets at an average of 143.50 in the two Tests he played there before heading home with an abdominal strain.Harbhajan, who has fully recovered from the injury, has been involved in domestic cricket and also captained Mumbai Indians to the title in the Champions League Twenty20 tournament.Off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin, who has replaced Harbhajan for the home series against the West Indies, picked up 22 wickets in the three Tests to confirm his place for the Australian tour.India open the three-month tour on December 15 with two practice matches in Canberra ahead of the first Test starting at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on December 26.Indias Test squad: Mahendra Singh Dhoni (capt), Virender Sehwag (vice-capt), Gautam Gambhir, Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar, Venkatsai Laxman, Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Ajinkya Rahane, Wriddhiman Saha, Ravichandran Ashwin, Pragyan Ojha, Zaheer Khan, Ishant Sharma, Umesh Yadav, Varun Aaron, Praveen Kumar.
