New Delhi: White-ball skipper Rohit Sharma was on Saturday officially named captain of the Indian Test team for the upcoming two-match series against Sri Lanka, starting March 4.
Veteran batsmen Ajinkya Rahane and Cheteshwar Pujara, who are battling poor form, were dropped.
Senior wicketkeeper Wriddhiman Saha and experienced pacer Ishant Sharma were also left out of the Tests.
Rookie Uttar Pradesh left-arm spinner Saurabh Kumar was the only new face in the 18-member Test squad.
Sri Lanka's tour will begin with a three-match T20I series starting February 24 and will be followed by the Tests.
Ahead of the T20I series, the selection committee, headed by Chetan Sharma, decided to give Virat Kohli and Rishabh Pant a break, while Shardul Thakur was rested for the entire series.
Kerala star Sanju Samson has been recalled to the T20I squad. The wicketkeeper-batter has been included in the 18-member squad as a replacement for Pant.
Pacer Jasprit Bumrah has been named Rohit's deputy for both the series.
Meanwhile, Washington Sudar and K L Rahul were ruled out of the entire series.
Ravichandran Ashwin will be available for the Test series subject to his fitness, while Axar Patel is still recovering and is expected to be fit for the second Test.
"The selection committee deliberated a lot on Rahane and Pujara. We told them we will not consider them against Sri Lanka but doors are open for them. We told them to go and play Ranji Trophy," Chetan told reporters during a virtual press conference.
Test squad: Rohit Sharma (capt), Mayank Agarwal, Priyank Panchal, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Hanuma Vihari, Shubman Gill, Rishabh Pant (wk), K S Bharat (wk), R Ashwin (subject to fitness), Ravindra Jadeja, Jayant Yadav, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah (vice-capt), Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj, Umesh Yadav & Sourav Kumar.
T20I squad: Rohit Sharma (capt), Ruturaj Gaikwad, Ishan Kishan, Suryakumar Yadav, Shreyas Iyer, Venkatesh Iyer, Deepak Hooda, Jasprit Bumrah (vice-capt), Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Deepak Chahar, Harshal Patel, Mohammed Siraj, Sanju Samson (wk), Ravindra Jadeja, Yuzvendra Chahal, Ravi Bishnoi, Kuldeep Yadav, Avesh Khan.
