Calcutta: The national selectors, who met in Mumbai on Tuesday, named Mahendra Singh Dhoni ODI captain as they felt he was the best man suited for the post. Yuvraj Singh was named vice-captain.

“We came to the conclusion that Dhoni was the best choice, the best man at the moment… He has all the qualities to be a good captain,” Dilip Vengsarkar told a press conference.

“Dhoni is a good captain and has done well in the ICC World Twenty20. We will see how he performs in these 12 ODIs before choosing the Test captain,” he said.

He did not agree that Dhoni would be overburdened with the new responsibility. “I don’t think he will be overburdened. He’s young and can handle it.”

Vengsarkar said Sachin Tendulkar wasn’t offered the captaincy. “We did not offer the captaincy to anyone, neither did we talk to Sachin regarding Test captaincy,” he said.

About Dravid’s decision to quit the high-profile job, Vengsarkar said: “We did not expect him to quit. We discussed the pros and cons of the development and arrived at the conclusion (of naming Dhoni captain)”.

The Jharkhand wicketkeeper-batsman will have three former captains, including his immediate predecessor Rahul Dravid, playing under him in the first three ODIs against Australia in Bangalore, Kochi and Hyderabad.

The chief selector did not think it make things difficult for Dhoni. “The three former captains will give him full support. You are talking about having three captains… Mohammed Azharuddin had five former captains under him when he led India in the 1990s,” Vengsarkar said.

There was no place for Virender Sehwag, while Ajit Agarkar, Munaf Patel and Rohit Sharma have also been omitted. Irfan Pathan, Sreesanth and Harbhajan Singh have been included in the squad for the three one-dayers against Australia beginning September 29.

Vengsarkar said Sehwag will get his chance. “We will be rotating the players. Sehwag will be considered… Irfan gives us more options,” he said.

“The seniors will have to sit out some of the matches… They can’t play on the trot. Three/four guys will play a few matches and take a break and then come back again.”

Vengsarkar didn’t wish to dwell on Dravid’s stepping down as captain. “I don’t know why he quit. He did not tell me… It may be due to media scrutiny. May be it was too much for him… I did not persuade, because I respect his decision. He was an excellent captain and did very well.”

The chief selector also did not agree to the view that shelf lives of captains are becoming shorter.

THE SQUAD

Batsmen: Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly, Rahul Dravid, Yuvraj Singh (vice-captain), Gautam Gambhir, Dinesh Karthik, Robin Uthappa

Wicketkeeper: Mahendra Singh Dhoni (captain)

Spinners: Harbhajan Singh, Ramesh Powar, Piyush Chawla

Mediumpacers: Zaheer Khan, Irfan Pathan, Rudra Pratap Singh, Sreesanth