The selectors hope Sehwag can recapture his best form

The 28-year-old was short of runs on India's last tour to South Africa and was overlooked for the recent one-day series against West Indies.

But both he and pace bowler Munaf Patel have been named in a 15-man squad for the first two games against Sri Lanka.

Batsmen Gautham Gambhir and Suresh Raina have been left out, along with off-spinner Ramesh Powar.

Explaining Sehwag's recall, chief selector Dilip Vengsarkar said: "He was out of form and needed a break, now he's back."

But having opened in 133 of his 163 one-day appearances, Sehwag is now set for a new role batting in the middle order.

"We'd want Sehwag to bat in the middle order in the next couple of matches, but he's not ruled out as an opener for the future," Vengsarkar added.

At his best, he is one of the most destructive batsmen in world cricket and has scored more than 4,750 runs in limited overs internationals, including seven centuries and 24 fifties - but his last one-day century came in April 2005.

In South Africa, he only managed 29 runs in three games and fared little better in the Test series which followed, averaging only 14.83.

Since then, he has been working a personal batting coach AN Sharma to try and iron out the flaws which cost him his wicket so cheaply and sapped his confidence.

"I suggested to him to watch his old footage so that he does not repeat his mistakes," Sharma told the Press Trust of India.

"In South Africa, he was getting out while trying to slice the ball but now he has stopped playing that way.

"I also advised Sehwag that he should not forget playing his natural game under the pressure to score runs."

The four-match series against Sri Lanka begins in Calcutta (Kolkata) on Thursday.

India squad: Rahul Dravid (captain), Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly, Yuvraj Singh, Mahendra Dhoni (wk), Robin Uthappa, Ajit Agarkar, Zaheer Khan, Harbhajan Singh, Anil Kumble, Dinesh Karthik, Irfan Pathan, Munaf Patel, Virender Sehwag, Shanthakumaran Sreesanth.