KABIR Ali says he was pleasantly surprised to earn a shock call-up to the England Lions squad that will tour India later this month.

The mainstay of Worcestershire's seam attack last season had spent the early part of the close-season out in the sub-continent.

Kabir was recuperating from tendonitis in his knee when he first received a call from the England and Wales Cricket Board's performance director David Parsons.

He said: "The call was to check on my fitness and while I hadn't bowled I felt things were going well.

"I have started running now and I'm sure that everything will be fine for the tour."

Kabir will be joined in the squad by county colleague Steven Davies.

The 21-year-old wicketkeeper returned from India just before Christmas having been out there with the England Performance Programme.

However, Worcestershire skipper Vikram Solanki has been omitted from the squad, which he captained last year.

The 31-year-old's participation in the rebel Indian Cricket League in November is likely to have played a part in his absence in the squad.

Fellow ICL rebels Chris Reed, Paul Nixon and Darren Maddy, who have all played in the England squads over the last couple of years, have also been overlooked.

Squad: Yardy (capt, Sussex), Kabir Ali (Worcs), Carberry (Hants), Davies (Worcs), Denly (Kent), Hildreth (Somerset), Joyce (Middlesex), Onions (Durham), Panesar (Northants), Plunkett (Durham), Rashid (Yorks), Richardson (Middlesex), Trott (Warwicks).