Amit Mishra back in Test squad for Sri Lanka series

Out of favour for more than four years, veteran leg-spinner Amit Mishra staged a comeback to India's Test squad for the three-Test away series against Sri Lanka, starting August 12.

The 32-year-old spinner hasn’t played for the country in the longer format of the game since August 2011.

Virat Kohli will resume captaincy and most of the senior players who were rested for the Zimbabwe tour are back in the squad.

Young Karnataka opener K L Rahul, who missed out on the Bangladesh tour due to dengue, returns to the squad, but will have to win back his place in the playing eleven.

Veteran off-spinner Harbhajan Singh, who was brought back to the fold for the Test against Bangladesh, seems to have impressed the selectors with his decent performance and hence was retained.

In the fast bowling department, Ishant Sharma, Umesh Yadav, Varun Aaron and Bhuvneshwar Kumar make up a four-pronged attack.

Karn Sharma and Mohammad Sami were not included in the team because of injuries.

The selectors again ignored veterans like Gautam Gambhir, Virender Sehwag and Pragyan Ojha.

Ravindra Jadeja, who hasn't been in good form of late, was again ignored.

"Amit Mishra was always in the scheme of things. Last year also he was in the reserves. The final eleven, though, is decided by the captain. Looking at the conditions, we have picked him for this tour," chief selector Sandeep Patil said.

"Pragyan was discussed but only 15 players can be selected. Looking at the conditions we have given preference to Mishra," he added.

Patil said Karn and pacer Mohammed Shami have still not recovered from their respective injuries and that is why "their names were not discussed".

"We always try to get the balance right. This is the best combination for the Sri Lanka tour."

Test squad: Virat Kohli (Captain), Shikhar Dhawan, Murali Vijay, KL Rahul, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane, Rohit Sharma, Wriddhiman Saha (wicketkeeper), Harbhajan Singh, Ravichandran Ashwin, Umesh Yadav, Ishant Sharma, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Amit Mishra, Varun Aaron.