Hardik Pandya has been rested for the upcoming three-match Test series against Sri Lanka. The BCCI said in a release that the decision was "made to made to negate any possibility of a major injury concern." "Considering Mr Pandya’s heavy recent workload, the decision was made to negate any possibility of a major injury concern. Mr Pandya will undergo a period of strength at conditioning at the National Cricket Academy in Bengaluru," read the statement. Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin and Murali Vijay make their returns to the Indian international setup. The BCCI further stated that the All-India Senior Selection Committee has named Sanju Samson as captain of the Board President’s XI for the warm-up match against Sri Lanka after Naman Ojha was ruled out due to injury. Shikhar Dhawan, who announced his Test comeback in Sri Lanka with two centuries, the first of which was 190 off 168 balls, has also been named in the squad alongwith Murali Vijay and KL Rahul. Rohit Sharma, who has not been able to replicate his limited overs success in the longest format of the game is also in the squad while Murali Vijay makes his return from injury. India had trounced Sri Lanka 4-0 in the Test series that the two sides played in the latter's home in July and August. Since then though, Sri Lanka managed a shock 2-0 series win over Pakistan in the UAE. They are the first side to have beaten Pakistan in the UAE since the latter shifted their home base there in 2009. They were subsequently beaten by Pakistan in the limited overs series, losing all the ODI and T20I matches. India squad for first two Tests: Virat Kohli (Captain), KL Rahul, M Vijay, Shikhar Dhawan, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane (Vice-Captain), Rohit Sharma, Wriddhiman Saha (WK), R Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Shami, Umesh Yadav, Bhuvaneshwar Kumar, Ishant Sharma.
