Singh has recovered from the injuries that plagued him over the past year but was replaced by uncapped Cheteshwar Pujara in the 15-man squad announced Monday.

India's chief selector Krishnamachary Srikkanth says “there have been no surprise inclusions or exclusions.” Yuvraj missed the second match in the two-Test series against Sri Lanka in July with an injury, and his replacement Suresh Raina grabbed the opportunity to slam a century on debut.

“We have considered the form and fitness of players and the team has more or less picked itself,” Srikkanth said.

“Pujara has done well in domestic cricket and for India 'A.' He is in the team due to the sheer weight of his performances over the past few years.” Pujara, 22, who plays for the low-profile Saurashtra team, has close to 4,000 runs in a five-year first-class career.

“We consulted coach Gary Kirsten and captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni before deciding on the composition of the side,” Srikkanth said.

As expected, frontline pace bowler Zaheer Khan returned after recovering from a shoulder injury. Harbhajan Singh, Gautam Gambhir and Shantakumaran Sreesanth were also included in the squad after recuperating from injuries.

The Australian team arrived in India on Monday and is due to play a practice game against a Board President's XI starting Sept. 25.

The first Test starts Oct. 1 in Mohali, with the second scheduled for Oct. 9 in Bangalore.

Mahendra Singh Dhoni (captain), Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar, VVS Laxman, Suresh Raina, Murali Vijay, Cheteshwar Pujara, Zaheer Khan, Shantakumaran Sreesanth, Ishant Sharma, Harbhajan Singh, Amit Mishra, Pragyan Ojha.