Dhoni rested, Sehwag named vice-captain

An exhausted Mahendra Singh Dhoni [ Images ] was rested while young left-arm spinner Pragyan Ojha [ Images ] was rewarded for his consistent performance with a berth in India's 16-member squad for the Test series in Sri Lanka [ Images ], starting July 23.

Gautam Gambhir [ Images ] and Rohit Sharma [ Images ], who have been an integral part of India's one-day team, were also named in the side which had no place for opener Wasim Jaffer [ Images ], an out-of-form Yuvraj Singh [ Images ] and struggling pacer Irfan Pathan [ Images ].

The 21-year-old Ojha, who came into the limelight for his fine performance in the recent Indian Premier League [ Images ], was preferred over fellow spinner Piyush Chawla [ Images ] and was the only new face in the squad announced by BCCI secretary Niranjan Shah in Mumbai [ Images ] on Tuesday.

Dhoni's absence paved the way for Parthiv Patel's [ Images ] recall into the Test squad after a long gap.

Parthiv comes back to the team on the back of his fine batting performance in the domestic circuit. Dinesh Kaarthick is the other wicket-keeper in the team.

Sachin Tendulkar [ Images ] and Harbhajan Singh [ Images ], both of whom had been out of action in the one-dayers, were named in the squad which will have a new vice-captain in Virender Sehwag [ Images ].

While Tendulkar had been recuperating from a groin injury that forced him out to sit out of the third and final Test against South Africa [ Images ] in April, Harbhajan was serving a five-match ODI ban for slapping teammate S Sreesanth during the Indian Premier League.

Sreesanth [ Images ], who is nursing a side strain, has also been left out of the squad.

Squad: Anil Kumble [ Images ] (c), Virender Sehwag (v-c), Sourav Ganguly [ Images ], Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid [ Images ], VVS Laxman [ Images ], Gautam Gambhir, Harbhajan Singh, Ishant Sharma [ Images ], Zaheer Khan [ Images ], RP Singh [ Images ], Munaf Patel [ Images ], Rohit Sharma, Dinesh Kaarthick, Pragyan Ojha and Parthiv Patel.