Rediff

Mumbai, Aug 7: Sachin Tendulkar, Zaheer Khan and Harbhajan Singh have made a comeback to the Indian ODI squads for the five-match series against Sri Lanka and forthcoming 2008 ICC Champions Trophy in Pakistan.

Young pace sensation Ishant Sharma was rested for the one-dayers in Sri Lanka, but made it to the 15-member Champions Trophy squad at the expense of fellow-pacer Munaf Patel.

Under-19 World Cup-winning captain Virat Kohli was the surprise inclusion in both squads. The 19-year-old Delhi batsman was one of the top performers for India in the Emerging Players' Tournament in Australia last month, scoring 204 runs in five matches at an average of 51.

Indian Premier League's top performers Yusuf Pathan and Piyush Chawla also failed to make the cut for both the tournaments. Yusuf played seven matches in the tri-series in Pakistan and Asia Cup, but failed to make an impression.

Tendulkar was forced to miss the tri-series in Bangladesh and Asia Cup after failing to recover fully from a groin injury.

Zaheer last played in an ODI match in November, against Pakistan, after which he was troubled by a spate of injuries.

Mahendra Singh Dhoni will return to captain the side. The wicketkeeper-batsman opted out of the ongoing three-Test series in Sri Lanka, citing fatigue due to constant cricket.

As expected, the senior batting duo of Rahul Dravid [Images] and Sourav Ganguly were again kept out after lacklustre batting displays in the ongoing Test series in Sri Lanka.

The five-match ODI series in Sri Lanka begins in Dambulla on August 18.

The 2008 ICC Champions Trophy, in Pakistan, will be played between September 11 and 28.