Virender Sehwag, Yuvraj Singh, Zaheer Khan,Gautam Gambhir and Harbhajan Singh have been omitted from the 30-member preliminary squad for the World Cup picked by India's selectors Thursday, reports Cricinfo.
It has been almost a year since any of them made the One Day International (ODI) side. It is understood that the selectors had decided to move on with the next generation and preferred current form over past performance, which worked against all the five players.
Though any of the omitted players from the provisional squad can be picked in the final 15-man side, chances of the five senior players breaking into the squad are remote.
The deadline for submitting the condensed squad to the ICC is January 7.
"Seniors were also considered [for selection]. There was a discussion on everyone," said BCCI secretary Sanjay Patel. "But the thought process was to give preference to performers.
The youngsters have been doing very well at the domestic level so they could not be ignored. Barring major injuries, the World Cup squad would be from this lot. Captain's views were also considered."
Over the last two years, Sehwag has averaged 20.23 in 13 one-day matches. Gambhir's is 23.58 from 30 matches in the same period.
They had limited success in the recent Vijay Hazare Trophy, with only a fifty each from six games.
India's 30 WC probables:
Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit Sharma, Ajinkya Rahane, Robin Uthappa, Virat Kohli, Suresh Raina, Ambati Rayudu, Kedar Jadhav, Manoj Tiwary, Manish Pandey, Wriddhiman Saha, Sanju Samson, Ravichandran Ashwin, Parvez Rasool, Karn Sharma, Amit Mishra, Ravindra Jadeja, Ashar Patel, Ishant Sharma, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mohammed Shami, Umesh Yadav, Varun Aaron, Dhawal Kulkarni, Stuart Binny, Mohit Sharma, Ashok Dinda, Kuldeep Yadav and Murali Vijay.
