Indian selectors on Sunday recalled explosive batsman Rohit Sharma to their Twenty20 squad for the five-match series on their tour of New Zealand starting on Jan. 24.
Vice-captain Rohit, rested for the home series against Sri Lanka, comes into the 16-member squad in place of wicketkeeper-batsman Sanju Samson, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) said in a statement.
Rishabh Pant will don the gloves in the month-long tour in which the visitors will also play three one-day internationals (ODIs) and two test matches.
Pace bowler Mohammed Shami also makes a comeback after being rested for the Sri Lanka series, which India won 2-0, but all-rounder Hardik Pandya was not included as he continues his recovery after having lower back surgery in October.
"Vijay Shankar has been included in the India 'A' squad for New Zealand since Pandya's rehabilitation process is taking longer than expected," the BCCI added.
India will host Australia in three ODIs this month before departing for New Zealand.
T20 squad: Virat Kohli (captain), Rohit Sharma, Lokesh Rahul, Shikhar Dhawan, Shreyas Iyer, Manish Pandey, Rishabh Pant (wicketkeeper), Shivam Dube, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Washington Sundar, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami, Navdeep Saini, Ravindra Jadeja, Shardul Thakur.
(Reporting by Shrivathsa Sridhar in Bengaluru, editing by Ed Osmond and Pritha Sarkar)
