India have rested their prolific batsman Virat Kohli for the upcoming Twenty20 International series against Sri Lanka which begins on 9th February.

Kohli has been in terrific form after ending as the leading run-scorer in the recent T20I series against Australia where he managed 199 runs from three games at an average of 199.

Even in the One-Day International series preceding that Kohli ended up as the second highest run-scorer with 381 runs from the five games.

Left-arm-spinner Pawan Negi has been named as Kohli's replacement in the 15-man squad that is led by MS Dhoni.

The selectors have also dropped Gurkeerat Singh Mann, Rishi Dhawan and Umesh Yadav from the squad that took part in the T20I series against Australia while Manish Pandey and Bhuvneshwar Kumar have been included.

Pandey had impressed the selectors with his match-winning century against Australia in Sydney while Kumar has recovered from the fractured thumb which he sustained prior to the T20Is against Australia.

The three T20Is between India and Sri Lanka will be played in Pune, Ranchi and Visakhapatnam respectively between 9th and 14th February.

India squad for Twenty20 International series against Sri Lanka:

MS Dhoni (captain), Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan, Ajinkya Rahane, Manish Pandey, Suresh Raina, Yuvraj Singh, Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, R Ashwin, Jasprit Bumrah, Ashish Nehra, Harbhajan Singh, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Pawan Negi. 

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