Mahendra Singh Dhoni was on Tuesday named skipper of the Indian cricket team for the ensuing one-day series against Australia and Pakistan but the selectors held back their decision on the Test team captaincy.

The 26-year-old Dhoni, who is currently leading the Indian team in the Twenty20 World Cup, succeeds Rahul Dravid, who recently sprang a surprise by relinquishing the captaincy to concentrate on his batting.

The announcement was made by Board of Control for Cricket in India secretary Niranjan Shah at a press conference in Mumbai, putting to rest intense speculation on the captaincy issue ever since Dravid stepped down last Friday.

The selectors, however, did not name the captain for the Test team. Chief selector Dilip Vengsarkar said a decision would be taken at a later stage.

"Dhoni is a good captain and it is the right time to groom him," Vengsarkar said.

The selectors also chose a 15-member squad for the first three matches of the ODI series against Australia, recalling paceman Irfan Pathan and off-spinner Harbhajan Singh.

The squad, which will have Yuvraj Singh as vice-captain, has no place for opener Virender Sehwag, pacemen Ajit Agarkar and Munaf Patel, while Rohit Sharma has also been omitted.