Virat Kohli's much-hyped county stint paved the way for Karun Nair's comeback while senior batsman Rohit Sharma was dropped from the 15-strong Indian squad announced on Tuesday for the historic one-off Test against Afghanistan next month.
Vice-captain Ajinkya Rahane will expectedly lead the team in Kohli's absence, the selection committee led by MSK Prasad announced after a meeting in which multiple squads were picked.
Rahane, however, has been dropped from the ODI squad for England tour. He was part of India's 50-over squad during the South Africa tour.
Ambati Rayudu and Kl Rahul were notable comebacks in the ODI squad for the England tour while young speedster Siddarth Kaul was rewarded with a T20 berth against Ireland and England for his consistent IPl performance.
The highlight of Tuesday's selection was without doubt India's second ever Test triple centurion Nair, who is making a comeback after 14 months in the wilderness, and it remains to be seen if he makes the playing XI against the Afghans in the match starting June 14.
Nair has played six Test matches, scoring 374 runs, but after his 303 against England at Chennai, his sequence of scores read 26, 0, 23 and 5, leading to his exclusion. However, it is highly unlikely that Nair will get a look-in in the playing XI against Afghanistan.
For the 31-year-old Rohit, an aggregate of 78 runs in 4 innings with a highest score of 47 during the South Africa series, is the reason for his exclusion from the Test squad.
Pacers Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Jasprit Bumrah have been rested as they are expected to shoulder the workload during the limited overs leg in UK before the big-ticket Test series in August.
Kohli Confusion
The national selection committee's decision to name India skipper Virat Kohli for the two-match T20 series against Ireland has created confusion as it's clashing with his county commitments for Surrey.
There were rumours in the BCCI corridors that the section which wasn't happy with Kohli skipping the one-off Test match against Afghanistan, has played a role in cutting short his county stint in favour of the T20 Internationals against the minnows.
India are set to play two T20's against Ireland in Dublin's Malahide on June 27 and 29 while Kohli is scheduled to play his last county match for Surrey against Yorkshire at Scarborough from June 25 to 28.
According to an announcement made by the county: "India captain Virat Kohli will play for Surrey during the entire month of June."
Despite the county matches schedule being announced much in advance before the team selection, it was surprising to find Kohli's name for the two-match series against Ireland.
When chairman of selectors MSK Prasad was contacted for a clarification whether it was a clerical error, he said: "Kindly talk to the BCCI secretary on this issue." When BCCI acting secretary Amitabh Choudhary was asked, he replied. "Be rest assured, everything is fine," was all he said.
Iyer, Nair to lead Ind A
The in-from Shreyas Iyer was on Tuesday named captain of the India A team for the upcoming One-day tri-series in the United Kingdom while Karun Nair will lead the squad in the four-day matches.
The two squads comprise a host of players, who have performed consistently for their state teams and IPl franchises.
The India 'A' tour of England will begin with an ODI tri-series against England lions and West Indies A, from June 22. India 'A' will also play a four-day Test against England A apart from a couple of three-day games against county sides.