Yuvraj Singh and Harbhajan Singh are the notable inclusions in the 15-member squad for the first two Tests against England, starting November 15.
Yuvraj, who is on a comeback trail after recovering from a rare germ cell cancer, replaced Suresh Raina in the squad for the series which is a four-match affair.
The new selection panel, headed by Sandeep Patil, also included Tamil Nadu opener Murali Vijay in place of S Badrinath, who featured in the last Test against New Zealand in August.
Leg-spinner Piyush Chawla, who is nursing a thumb injury, has been left out of the squad paving the way for Harbhajan to return to the Test fold after a gap of more than a year.
Pace spearhead Zaheer Khan, whose fitness was under the scanner after he limped off the field during a Ranji Trophy match on Sunday, has also been retained, apparently after getting the physio’s nod.
Squad for first and second Tests: Mahendra Singh Dhoni (c), Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Virat Kohli, Sachin Tendulkar, Yuvraj Singh, Cheteshwar Pujara, R Ashwin, Umesh Yadav, Pragyan Ojha, Ajinkya Rahane, Harbhajan Singh, Ishant Sharma, Murali Vijay, Zaheer Khan.