Teams for the T20 World Cup and Asia Cup were announced on Friday.
Pacer Mohammad Shami and slow left-arm orthodox bowler Pawan Negi have been included in the team.
Commenting on the inclusion of Shami, the chief selector Sandip Patil said, “The advantage for Shami is that there’s still enough time for him to get fit. He has been one of our best bowlers, he has recovered and he has started bowling.”
MS Dhoni will be the captain for the team for both Asia Cup T20 and ICC World T20 championships.
India will play the Asia Cup T20 opening match on 24 February against hosts Bangladesh in Mirpur.
India’s World T20 campaign will start on against New Zealand on 15 March.
Dhoni’s men will face Sri Lanka in three T20 matches starting on 9 February. The team will use these matches as the much needed preparation for the two important competitions.
The Indian team’s recent performance in this version of the game has been impressive with the side completing a whitewash by clinching the series against the host Australia.
India, which won the inaugural edition of T20 World Cup in South Africa in 2007 are the current currently No. 1 in the T20 ICC rankings.
Team: MS Dhoni (C), Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan, Virat Kohli, Suresh Raina, Yuvraj Singh, Ajinkya Rahane, Ravindra Jadeja, Hardik Pandya, Ravichandran Ashwin, Harbhajan Singh, Jasprit Bumrah, Ashish Nehra, Pawan Negi, Mohammad Shami
More to follow