Wicketkeeper Matt Prior and spinner Graeme Swann are part of a 15-man England squad selected for the Test series against India in December.
Prior will be vying with Tim Ambrose for the wicketkeeper's gloves.
Swann was preferred to Adil Rashid and Samit Patel as the second spinner alongside Monty Panesar.
And Owais Shah, who can bowl spin, was picked ahead of Ravi Bopara US House backs India nuclear deal ...
Musharraf resignation deal denied ... in the spare batting slot created by Michael Vaughan's absence.
National selector Geoff Miller said Shah got the nod ahead of Young Cricketer of the Year Bopara because he was a better player of spin.
"He played a superb innings in India on his Test debut two years ago," said Miller.
"It's a further opportunity for him to build on his success with the one-day side this year and his inclusion in the squad will create real competition for places within the batting unit."
Vaughan, who stood down as England captain at the beginning of August, missed the final Test of the summer.
He returned to his county Yorkshire in an effort to regain batting form but failed to perform.
Vaughan, who was awarded a central contract by the England and Wales Cricket Board, will now target the West Indies tour early in 2009.
Essex's Bopara had a better season than his main rival Shah in first-class cricket - but Middlesex's Shah was selected because of his ability to bowl spin.
England utilised two spinners - Panesar and veteran off-spinner Shaun Udal - to beat India in Mumbai in March 2006.
And the selectors opted for off-spinner Swann, who turns the ball the opposite way from Panesar, ahead of Rashid and Patel.
Miller said: "The inclusion of Graeme Swann as off spinner provides us with a right-arm/left-arm slow bowling combination which we believe can be effective in India"
In the wicketkeeping department, Ambrose is the man in possession of the gloves and has an ECB increment (second-tier) contract, but he had a disappointing summer with the bat.
Prior performed better for Sussex and could well win his 11th Test cap in India.
But all Miller would say was: "Matt Prior has enjoyed an impressive domestic season with Sussex and having re-established himself in the England one-day side, he will now compete with Tim Ambrose for the position of Test wicketkeeper."
England's one-day squad will be in India from early November to play seven matches across the country, with the Test specialists expected to join them ahead of the warm-up match in Baroda which starts on 5 December.
They then play two Tests, Ahmedabad starting 11 December and Mumbai, beginning 19 December.
England also announced a 15-man England Performance Programme squad to tour India in November and December.
"Touring India will provide the players with an opportunity to learn more about the challenges of playing on the sub-continent as well as providing our Test and one-day squads with stand-by players in case of injury," added Miller.
England squad: Kevin Pietersen (capt), Alastair Cook, Andrew Strauss, Ian Bell, Paul Collingwood, Andrew Flintoff, Tim Ambrose (wk), Matt Prior (wk), Stuart Broad, Steve Harmison, James Anderson, Monty Panesar, Ryan Sidebottom, Owais Shah, Graeme Swann.
England Performance Programme squad: Tim Bresnan, Mark Davies, Steven Davies, Joe Denly, Robbie Joseph, Robert Key, Amjad Khan, Sajid Mahmood, Dawid Malan, Eoin Morgan, Stephen Moore, Liam Plunkett, Adil Rashid, Ollie Rayner, Jonathan Trott
(BBC)
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