India drop Pujara, Rahane, Ishant, Saha from Test squad, add Samson to T20Is

India left out Ajinkya Rahane, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ishant Sharma and Wriddhiman Saha from their 18-member squad for the upcoming Test series against Sri Lanka. They have named Rohit Sharma captain and Jasprit Bumrah his deputy. Saurabh Kumar earned a maiden call-up. R Ashwin's inclusion remains subject to fitness, while Ravindra Jadeja returned to the squad after a long gap.

Chief selector Chetan Sharma maintained that this was not the end of the road for Pujara and Rahane: 'The selection committee put a lot of thought into it and came to the decision. We have spoken to them earlier and we have told them that we will not consider them for the two Test matches against Sri Lanka. The doors are absolutely open for them. We told them to go and play Ranji Trophy.'

Test squad: Rohit Sharma (c), Jasprit Bumrah (vc), Rishabh Pant (wk), K.S. Bharat (wk), Mayank Agarwal, Priyank Panchal, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Hanuma Vihari, Shubman Gill, Ravindra Jadeja, Jayant Yadav, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj, Umesh Yadav, Saurabh Kumar, R. Ashwin (subject to fitness).

Meanwhile, Sanju Samson returned to the T20I squad, while Pant and Kohli were rested. Bumrah, too, is set to return to action after being rested for the current series against West Indies. The first T20I will be played in Lucknow on 24 February.

T20I squad: Rohit Sharma (c), Ruturaj Gaikwad, Ishan Kishan (wk), Sanju Samson (wk), Suryakumar Yadav, Shreyas Iyer, Venkatesh Iyer, Deepak Hooda, Jasprit Bumrah, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Deepak Chahar, Harshal Patel, Ravindra Jadeja, Mohammed Siraj, Yuzvendra Chahal, Ravi Bishnoi, Kuldeep Yadav, Avesh Khan.