Ishan Kishan and Mohammed Shami were the main absentees as India named the squad for the first two Tests against England on Friday, January 12.
Dhruv Jurel, who is yet to make his international debut for India, has also found a place in the squad. Another new name in the Test format for India will be Avesh Khan, who has replaced Prasidh Krishna in the squad from the tour of the rainbow nation.
Axar Patel and Kuldeep have also returned to the Test squad after missing out on the tour of South Africa, while Shardul Thakur has also dropped out after the series against the Proteas.
Shami and Kishan miss out on first two Tests
Shami had missed out on the last assignment due to injury and is seemingly continuing his recovery. Kishan, who had missed the South Africa tour due to personal reasons, remains absent from the squad with KL Rahul, KS Bharat and Dhruv Jurel being named as the designated wicketkeepers for the matches.
The first match of the series will be played from January 25 to 29 in Hyderabad. The second match will be played in Vizag from February 2 to 6.
India squad for first two Tests vs England: Rohit Sharma (C), Shubman Gill, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul (wk), KS Bharat (wk), Dhruv Jurel (wk), Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Siraj, Mukesh Kumar, Jasprit Bumrah (VC), Avesh Khan.
England had already announced their squad for the tour of India in December last year with a heavy spin contingent amongst their ranks.