Premier batsman Sachin Tendulkar, spinner Harbhajan Singh and fast bowler Zaheer Khan were recalled into India's 16-player squad on Thursday for the one-day series in Sri Lanka starting on Aug. 18. Tendulkar and Khan missed last month's Asia Cup in Pakistan through injury. Harbhajan was serving a ban for slapping compatriot S. Sreesanth. The trio have returned to the side for the current Test series against Sri Lanka. The Indian selectors picked uncapped Virat Kohli, an attacking batsman who captained the victorious under-19 World Cup squad this year. Young fast bowler Ishant Sharma is being rested. The Delhi paceman will return for next month's Champions Trophy in Pakistan after being included in a 15-player squad. India squad: Mahendra Singh Dhoni (captain), Yuvraj Singh (vice captain), Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Sachin Tendulkar, Suresh Raina, Rohit Sharma, Harbhajan Singh, Pragyan Ojha, Zaheer Khan, Rudra Pratap Singh, Praveen Kumar, Irfan Pathan, Virat Kohli, Munaf Patel, Parthiv Patel. Champions Trophy squad: Dhoni (captain), Yuvraj (vice-captain), Sehwag, Gambhir, Tendulkar, Raina, Rohit Sharma, Harbhajan, Ojha, Khan, RP Singh, Praveen Kumar, Irfan Pathan, Ishant Sharma, Kohli. Ready for decider Having rebounded from a crushing defeat in the first Test to win the second, India is confident of carrying on its momentum to a series victory over Sri Lanka when the third and final Test begins Friday. “In terms of confidence, in terms of strategy, we have done whatever we can to ensure we win the Test and the series,” India captain Anil Kumble said at practice Thursday. “We've done that once, against Australia in 2001, if I remember right, having been down 1-0.” Kumble was unconcerned by the relatively poor form of India's star-studded middle-order batting - comprising Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar, V.V.S. Laxman and Sourav Ganguly - in the first two Tests. The four have scored just 329 runs between themselves in the series. “I'm not worried, if they score runs which is due, things will be fine,” Kumble said. Sri Lanka captain Mahela Jayawardene called on his side to show character and display its best form in Colombo. “We have played some really good cricket against a quality side that has plenty of experience and we have shown that we can compete with them well and match them and even beat them,” Jayawardene said. Sri Lanka will make one change to the team that lost in Galle, dropping seamer Nuwan Kulasekara for either of the quicker Thilan Thushara Mirando or uncapped Dammika Prasad. “We lacked a bit of pace, not hurrying the batsmen enough,” Jayawardene said. “They are bowling tidy spells, but they need to attack the batsmen.” Sri Lanka will retain out-of-form opening batsman Michael Vandort, who has scored just 17 runs in the three outings.
