The Mumbai youngster took the place of Kedar Jadhav, who was dropped from the T20I squad after his below-par showing in the three-match series against Australia.
Left-arm pacer Thangarasu Natarajan earned his maiden call-up to the Indian Test squad after he was named as the replacement for the injured Umesh Yadav for the last two games against Australia.
In a tight season for India, the first T20 comes only five days after their last ODI against Australia at home.
India and England have played with contrasting approaches in the World Cup so far, producing contrasting results. That is unlikely to change when the teams meet in Lucknow on Sunday.
Left-arm wrist spinner Kuldeep Yadav, Sanju Samson and Manish Pandey have been dropped from the side while pacer Jasprit Bumrah has been rested.
The Kiwi bowler said all teams will look to have their World Cup players spending the coming weeks together in order to finalise their preparations for the mega event.
The Indian squad is packed with quality players but either wrist spinner Yuzvendra Chahal or Washington Sundar should have found place in the home team's line-up, reckons 2011 World Cup hero Yuvraj Singh.
Their bowling attacks struggling to find form, Kings XI Punjab and SunRisers Hyderabad will look towards their power-hitters to do the job when the two erratic teams go head to head in an IPL match, in Dubai, on Thursday.
India survived a batting collapse to edge Bangladesh by three wickets in the low-scoring second Test to complete a 2-0 series sweep in Mirpur, Dhaka, on Sunday.
Spinner Kuldeep Yadav's surprise exclusion from the playing XI in the second Test against Bangladesh drew a strong criticism from the legendary Sunil Gavaskar.
For Kohli, in probably his last three matches as T20 captain of India, one would expect some prudent team selections and it starts with the question of repeatedly ignoring a player of Ashwin's calibre.
Rohit Sharma is likely to make a comeback for the six-match limited overs series against the West Indies at home next month.
As much as Ishan Kishan has done his bit, India will need Iyer, the proverbial slayer of spin bowling in the middle overs during the World Cup.
The Indian team is scheduled to play the WTC final against New Zealand from June 18-22 before taking on England in a five-Test series.
Images from Friday's second One-day International between India and Australia, at the Saurashtra Cricket Association Stadium, in Rajkot.
India's bowling shortcomings have been laid bare in the first two one-day internationals against Australia and unless pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah finds his rhythm quickly the tourists will have their backs to the wall in next month's Test series.
India would be pressing for a decisive first-innings lead in the contest when play resumes on Friday.
"I know the importance of opening the innings. I am glad I could make it count. It's always important to embrace the challenge, it's not going to be easy. Back in Durham we had time off to look at our training and technique and after the World Test Championship final we had 20-25 days, that was a real game-changer."
It remains to be seen whether veteran Gautam Gambhir can make a comeback to the Indian ODI team after being recently called up to the Test squad to replace the injured KL Rahul.
Australia captain Pat Cummins said his team is not fretting over its spin combination as it has enough options to support veteran off-spinner Nathan Lyon in the four-Test series against India.
A fit-again Ravindra Jadeja made a strong comeback with a seven-wicket haul in the second innings against Tamil Nadu as he bowled 41.1 overs in the Ranji Trophy match.
Virat Kohli has not scored an international hundred since November 2019 but head coach Rahul Dravid dismissed notions that the owner of 27 Test hundreds is "lacking in motivation".
The sides will next head to Bengaluru for the deciding fifth T20 on Sunday.
SKY perfectly equipped to play Tests, says Sachin Tendulkar
While Kedar injured his left shoulder during the IPL, Shankar was hit in the nets by a Khaleel Ahmed short ball.
India won the twin T20 Internationals in Auckland by margins of six and seven wickets respectively to go 2-0 up in the five-match series.
Team India's throwdown specialist D Raghavendra has skipped travelling to the UAE with the rest of the support staff as he has tested positive for COVID-19.
The right-handed duo of Murali Vijay and Lokesh Rahul have remained India's trusted batsmen upfront but the former's wrist injury opened an unlikely door for Shikhar Dhawan when they toured Sri Lanka earlier this year.
'Ishant has a slight ankle niggle and he would not like to aggravate his injury before the South Africa series'
For the 'Bazball' inspired England, the win in Hyderabad has become a distant memory and a repeat of 2021 looks likely when India bounced back to win the four-Test series 3-1.
Sri Lanka are no pushovers but they have faltered more often than not in this World Cup after an superlative show in the qualification round.
The injury-ravaged Indian team was dealt another blow on Tuesday as pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah is likely to miss the fourth and final Test against Australia, starting on Friday, due to an abdominal strain.
The legendary Sunil Gavaskar wants Rishabh Pant to succeed Virat Kohli as the next India Test captain as he believes a sense of responsibility will make the glovesman a better cricketer in all forms of the game.
India's limited-overs vice-captain Rohit Sharma was on Monday ruled out of the upcoming ODI and Test series against New Zealand after sustaining a calf injury in the fifth T20 International on Sunday. Rohit retired hurt after scoring 60 off 41 balls after he pulled his calf muscle while going for a quick single during the fifth and final T20 International in Mount Maunganui.
The spotlight will, however, continue to be on the 33-year-old Kohli in Mohali with the contest against Sri Lanka being his 100th Test match for the country.
Parthiv Patel's positive batting with scores of 42 and 67 (not out) have impressed skipper Virat Kohli so much that he did not rule out a possibility that along with second wicketkeeeper's slot, the Gujarat stumper could also be an option as back-up opener.
India will be looking to round off their T20 World Cup preparation with a marked improvement in their death bowling besides providing crucial game time to its untested players in the three-match series against South Africa.
India batter Mayank Agarwal is keen to pick newly-appointed national team head coach Rahul Dravid's brain once again, having had an enjoyable experience with the approachable Karnataka stalwart while playing for India 'A'.
As Mohammed Shami walked back to the top of his run-up, Virat Kohli geed the fans at the Wankhede Stadium to go full throat with their chants - Shaamii! Shaamii! They obliged merrily.
We have to play aggressive cricket, says stand-in skipper KL Rahul
