Agencies
India have rested as many as six players for next month's T20I tri-series in Sri Lanka.
These players are captain Virat Kohli, MS Dhoni, Jasprit Bumrah, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Hardik Pandya and Kuldeep Yadav.
In light of a long and demanding tour of South Africa, that culminated on Saturday with India's T20I win in Cape Town, these changes were expected.
Rohit Sharma will captain the team in the absence of Kohli, who missed Saturday's T20I on account of a stiff back. Shikhar Dhawan has been named his deputy.
Deepak Hooda, Washinton Sundar, Vijay Shankar, Mohammad Siraj and Rishabh Pant are the beneficiaries of the selectors' decision of resting important players.
"We've kept in mind the workload and upcoming schedule while finalising the team for Nidahas Trophy," chairman of selectors MSK Prasad said.
"The high-performance team has suggested that adequate rest should be given to our fast bowlers to help improve athletic performance, maximise rest and prevent injury. MS Dhoni was not available for selection as he had requested for rest," he added.
Bangladesh are the third team to participate in the tri-series with India and Sri Lanka featuring in the opening contest on March 6 at Colombo.
Squad: Rohit Sharma (captain), Shikhar Dhawan, KL Rahul, Suresh Raina, Manish Pandey, Dinesh Karthik, Deepak Hooda, Washington Sundar, Yuzvendra Chahal, Axar Patel, Vijay Shankar, Shardul Thakur, Jaydev Unadkat, Mohammad Siraj, Rishabh Pant
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