New Delhi, September 18:

Mahendra Singh Dhoni was named India’s new cricket captain for upcoming one-day home series against Australia and Pakistan.

“The selectors have appointed Dhoni as captain for one-day series against Australia and Pakistan,” Indian cricket board secretary Niranjan Shah said. India will figure in 12 ODIs at home, seven against Australia and five against Pakistan.

Dhoni, 26, took the high-profile job after strong contender Sachin Tendulkar reportedly opted out of the race. The appointment opened the way to a split captaincy for the first time in Indian cricket, with Tendulkar likely to lead in Tests and Dhoni in one-dayers.

The selectors were forced to find a new skipper after Rahul Dravid ended his two-year stint last week. The selectors also named a 15-man squad for the first three one-dayers against Australia, with Irfan Pathan, S Sreesanth, and Harbhajan Singh returning to the fold.

SQUAD: Mahendra Singh Dhoni (capt), Yuvraj Singh, Sourav Ganguly, Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, Dinesh Karthik, Gautam Gambhir, Robin Uthappa, Irfan Pathan, Ramesh Powar, Piyush Chawla, RP Singh, Zaheer Khan,

S Sreesanth, Harbhajan Singh.