Balaji has Test-best figures of 5-76 against Pakistan in Mohali

Seamer Lakshmipathy Balaji has been included in the India squad for the forthcoming Test tour of New Zealand.

The 27-year-old has 27 Test wickets, but has not featured since March 2005 after a stress fracture to his back.

Also in the squad for the three Tests starting on 18 March is 20-year-old Dhawal Kulkarni, who took 41 wickets in his maiden first-class season.

There is a separate one-day squad which includes Sachin Tendulkar, but he will not play in the two Twenty20 matches.

The Indians will be hoping for an improvement on their last tour of New Zealand in 2002 when some green-tinged bowler-friendly pitches saw them bowled out for 161, 121, 99 and 154 as they lost both Tests.

606: DEBATE I would prefer RP singh and Sreesanth over Balaji and Munaf in Tests mallulander

New Zealand also went on to win the subsequent one-day series 5-2.

This time the limited overs games precede the Tests, with the two Twenty20 games on 25 and 27 February, followed by a five-match one-day series beginning on 3 March.

The six-week tour will not include any practice matches, however.

Test squad: Mahendra Singh Dhoni (capt), Virender Sehwag (vice-capt), Gautam Gambhir, Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar, Venkatsai Laxman, Yuvraj Singh, Murali Vijay, Dinesh Karthik, Harbhajan Singh, Amit Mishra, Zaheer Khan, Ishant Sharma, Munaf Patel, Lakshmipathy Balaji, Dhawal Kulkarni.

Limited-overs squad: Mahendra Singh Dhoni (capt), Virender Sehwag (vice-capt), Gautam Gambhir, Sachin Tendulkar, Yuvraj Singh, Suresh Raina, Dinesh Karthik, Yusuf Pathan, Harbhajan Singh, Zaheer Khan, Ishant Sharma, Munaf Patel, Irfan Pathan, Pragyan Ojha, Rohit Sharma, Praveen Kumar.

(Ravindra Jadeja will replace Tendulkar for the Twenty20 matches).

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