India have left Harbhajan Singh out of their squad for the first two one-day internationals against England. Harbhajan struggled on the recent tours of West Indies and England and has paid the price with selectors instead preferring the Punjab leg-spinner Rahul Sharma and off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin.

The squad has been weakened through injuries with Sachin Tendulkar, Zaheer Khan, Virender Sehwag and Yuvraj Singh all sidelined while Ashish Nehra has been dropped. The squad for the remaining three games will be named at a later date to give some of those star names the chance to prove their fitness.

In addition to Sharma, the Karnataka medium-pacer Sreenath Aravind has also been included in an India squad for the first time while Varun Aaron, who did not play a single match on the recent England tour, was retained. India's former bowling coach Venkatesh Prasad, who is in charge of Royal Challengers Bangalore, feels Aravind is a good selection.

"There have been fitness issues with Nehra for a while now. He has the experience, but the time has come to look ahead … Aravind fits the slot very well," Prasad told the Times of India. "Aravind has done very well for Karnataka and RCB. He knows how to vary his pace and bowl in Indian conditions." The series kicks off in Hyderabad on 14 October with the second ODI in New Delhi on 17 October. The other matches will be held in Mohali (20 October), Mumbai (23 October) and Kolkata (25 October).