NEW DELHI — Leg-spinner Amit Mishra staged a comeback into the national Test side after a gap of four years Thursday, while veteran Harbhajan Singh retained his place in the 15-member squad for the upcoming tour of Sri Lanka. Barring 32-year-old Mishra's inclusion, there were no major surprise in the team with the selectors retaining as many as 14 players, who had toured Bangladesh for the one-off Test early this month. Leg-spinner Sharma was the only player to have been left out due to injury while young batsman Lokesh Rahul retained his place in the squad, announced by BCCI Secretary Anurag Thakur after a selection committee meeting, also attended by Test skipper Virat Kohli. The selectors again ignored veterans such as Gautam Gambhir, Virender Sehwag and Pragyan Ojha. Ravindra Jadeja, who has not been in good form of late, was again left out from the Test squad. “Amit Mishra was always in the scheme of things. Last year also he was in reserves. The final XI though is decided by the captain. Looking at the conditions we have picked him for this tour,” Chief selector Sandeep Patil said at a press conference. Patil said Karn and paceman Mohammed Shami have still not recovered from their respective injuries that is why “their names were not discussed.” The injury to Karn Sharma made it easy for Amit Mishra to return to the Test fold as none of the other spinners like Ojha, Piyush Chawla and Axar Patel were in contention for a Test berth. Mishra last played a Test against England in August 2011 at the Oval. The selectors opted for a three specialist spinners in R.Ashwin, Harbhajan and Mishra while there are four pacers — Ishant Sharma, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Umesh Yadav and Varun Aaron. While Shikhar Dhawan and Murali Vijay will be the openers, the middle order will be manned by captain Virat Kohli, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane, Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul. Wriddhiman Saha will be the lone wicketkeeper in the squad, which will play a three-Test series, beginning from August 12. Galle (Aug. 12-16) will host the first Test while Colombo (Aug. 20-24 and Aug. 28-Sep 2) will stage the two other matches. Squad: Virat Kohli (Captain), Shikhar Dhawan, Murali Vijay, KL Rahul, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane, Rohit Sharma, Wriddhiman Saha (wk), Harbhajan Singh, R. Ashwin, Umesh Yadav, Ishant Sharma, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Amit Mishra and Varun Aaron. Sri Lanka T20 team Sri Lanka has named five uncapped players in its 15-man squad for a Twenty20 series against Pakistan starting later this month. Left-arm seamer Binura Fernando, all-rounder Dasun Shanaka, legspinner Jeffrey Vandersay, batsmen Shahan Jayasuriya and Dhananjaya de Silva have been included in the squad announced Thursday. None of the five have played any format of international cricket. Batsman Chamara Kapugedera, who has not played for Sri Lanka for nearly three years, has also received a call up. The matches will be played on July 30 and Aug. 1 in Colombo. Squad: Sri Lanka: Lasith Malinga (captain), Tillakaratne Dilshan, Kusal Perera, Kithruwan Vithanage, Dhananjaya de Silva, Angelo Mathews, Dasun Shanaka, Chamara Kapugedera, Shehan Jayasuriya, Thisara Perera, Jeffrey Vandersay, Nuwan Kulasekara, Binura Fernando, Chaturanga de Silva and Milinda.Siriwardana. — Agencies
