Vijay returns to Test squad

K L Rahul was retained in the T20 squad while Murali Vijay returned to the Test squad after an injury-enforced break as the selectors picked the India squads for the games against New Zealand (T20Is) and Sri Lanka.

The Sri Lankans are set to visit the country for a full-fledged series to be held between November 11 and December 6.

Opener Vijay was included in the Test squad that has been picked for the first two Tests against Lanka. The right-hander had to pull out of the Lanka tour at the 11th hour in July after sustaining a wrist injury. With Vijay coming back, his Tamil Nadu state-mate Abhinav Mukund made his exit as has Axar Patel who had been included for the last Test against Sri Lanka in Pallekele after Ravindra Jadeja was suspended for breach of ICC code of conduct.

The MSK Prasad-led committee, which met here on Monday morning, also included Mumbai middle-order batsman Shreyas Iyer and Hyderabad paceman Mohammed Siraj while axing Kedar Jadhav from the T20 squad against the Kiwis.

This is the first time both these youngsters have been included in a senior Indian side. While Iyer has been spoken about a lot in recent times, Siraj has made rapid progress with impressive shows in domestic cricket and in the Indian Premier League for Sunrisers Hyderabad.

The three-member panel also picked a Board President’s XI that will play Lanka in a two-day practice match on November 11 and 12. Madhya Pradesh wicketkeeper-batsman Naman Ojha will lead the team that consists of players from four Ranji teams – MP, Kerala, Punjab and Hyderabad -- that have no matches during that round.

T20I squad against New Zealand: Virat Kohli (Capt), Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit Sharma (Vice-Captain), KL Rahul, Manish Pandey, Shreyas Iyer, Dinesh Karthik, MS Dhoni (WK), Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jasprit Bumrah, Ashish Nehra, Mohammed Siraj.

Board President XI for warm-up tie against Sri Lanka: Naman Ojha (Capt, WK), Sanju Samson, Jiwanjot Singh, B Sandeep, Tanmay Agarwal, Abhishek Gupta, Rohan Prem, Akash Bhandari, Jalaj Saxena, C V Milind, Avesh Khan, Sandeep Warrier, Ravi Kiran.

Team for first two Test matches against Sri Lanka:Virat Kohli (Capt), KL Rahul, Murali Vijay, Shikhar Dhawan, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane (Vice-captain), Rohit Sharma, Wriddhiman Saha, R Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav, Hardik Pandya, Mohammed Shami, Umesh Yadav, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Ishant Sharma.