Dhoni may turn up for India A

New Delhi, December 6

India’s limited-overs format captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni could play a couple of warm-up matches before the ODI series against England, starting in Pune on January 15. England are scheduled to play warm-up matches against India A on January 10 and 12 in Mumbai.

Dhoni has not played at all since the home series against New Zealand in October. And in case he doesn’t turn up for India A, he will head into the ODI series without proper game time for 77 days.

Dhoni has been training regularly with the Jharkhand Ranji Trophy team, but he hasn’t been picked for first class games as he has already retired from Test cricket.

Morgan, Hales back in squad for India tour

England captain Eoin Morgan and opening batsman Alex Hales have returned to the ODI and T20 squads for the tour of India next month. Both players had skipped the Bangladesh tour over security concerns. England have won nine of their last 12 ODIs and head coach Trevor Bayliss said there was never any doubt that Morgan and Hales would return despite deciding not to go to Bangladesh. “No-one was annoyed that they didn’t go,” said Bayliss. “They are good mates of all the players in the team. There are certainly no problems at all.” Asked if Morgan’s position as captain had been weakened by his decision not to tour Bangladesh, Bayliss said: “No, not at all. There have been no whispers around the squad or from anyone. In fact, everyone is looking forward to welcoming him back to the fold.”

ODI squad: Moeen Ali, Jonathan Bairstow, Jake Ball, Sam Billings, Jos Buttler, Liam Dawson, Alex Hales, Eoin Morgan (captain), Liam Plunkett, Adil Rashid, Joe Root, Jason Roy, Ben Stokes, David Willey, Chris Woakes

T20 squad: Moeen Ali, Jake Ball, Sam Billings, Jos Buttler, Liam Dawson, Alex Hales, Chris Jordan, Tymal Mills, Eoin Morgan (captain), Liam Plunkett, Adil Rashid, Joe Root, Jason Roy, Ben Stokes, David Willey. — Agencies