Ben Stokes and Jofra Archer have been rested for England's Test series in Sri Lanka in January, while Jonny Bairstow has been recalled to a 16-man squad.
All-rounder Stokes - whose father, Ged, passed away on Tuesday at the age of 65 after a short battle with brain cancer - will not travel with the side to Sri Lanka for the games in Galle from January 14 and January 22, which form part of the inaugural ICC World Test Championship.
Paceman Archer has also been given a break, with a four-Test assignment in India - which includes a day-night fixture - beginning on February 5, while opening batsman Rory Burns will sit out the Sri Lanka series as well with his wife expecting their first child in the second week of January.
England national selector Ed Smith said: "All the multi-format players, so for example, Ben Stokes, Jofra Archer and Jos Buttler, are going to have a rest at some point during the Sri Lanka and India tours.
"It made sense for Ben to take his rest for the Sri Lanka tour and get ready for India. We know in cricket that things can change but we have identified gaps where some people will have a bit of time off and some rest.
"We cannot expect to play the same XI every time and for those guys to get exhausted and jaded. There must be room for sensible rotation, both in and out of the squad. With essentially six back-to-back Tests it would be unlikely, not impossible but unlikely, that people can go straight through.
"We will be making changes to the India squad mid-tour. We won't be doing that at the last minute. The way to think about this winter is that it is three blocks of two Tests: Sri Lanka, India one and two, India three and four."
Burns' absence and the continued omission of Ollie Pope due to a shoulder injury has seen Bairstow - who played the most recent of his 70 Tests in December 2019 - return as well as a spot for uncapped Essex batsman Dan Lawrence in a series that will be shown live on Sky Sports.
Bairstow averaged only 18.55 in 10 Tests in 2019, passing fifty only twice - but did hit a century in Sri Lanka in late 2018 as a specialist batsman.
The Yorkshireman's 110 from the No 3 spot in the final Test in Colombo helped England seal a 3-0 sweep after a pre-series ankle injury had seen Ben Foakes replace him as wicketkeeper.
Smith said of Bairstow: "I would say he has a great opportunity to get back into the Test mix as a batter and that's a really exciting possibility for him."
Pope, who suffered his injury during August's Test series at home to Pakistan, will travel with the squad and continue his rehab ahead of the India series in February and March.
Dom Bess, Jack Leach and Moeen Ali have been selected as England's spinners, with the latter recalled for the first time since the 2019 Ashes.
Moeen and Leach claimed 36 wickets between them when Joe Root's side beat Sri Lanka in 2018 for their first overseas sweep in a series of three or more games since defeating New Zealand 3-0 in 1963.
Adil Rashid, the final member of England's spin trio on that tour two years ago, remains absent - the leg-spinner recently told Sky Sports that he has a lot of things to consider before he commits to a Test recall, including whether his shoulder can stand up to the rigours of the longest format.
Smith added of Rashid: "Everyone knows he is a fantastically talented cricketer. He has had a long-running shoulder injury and does have concerns about that under the strain of five-day cricket.
"He's among the most irreplaceable players in a very, very strong white-ball set-up. He would like to focus on white-ball cricket for the time being. Nothing is ruled out for the future but, at the moment, that's where it sits."
England's 16-strong party in Sri Lanka will be supplemented by seven reserves, including leg-spinners Mason Crane (Hampshire) and Matt Parkinson (Lancashire) and off-spinner Amar Virdi (Surrey).
Wicketkeeper-batsman James Bracey (Gloucestershire) and seam bowlers Craig Overton (Somerset), Saqib Mahmood (Lancashire) and Ollie Robinson (Sussex) complete the back-up group.
Watch England's two-Test series in Sri Lanka live on Sky Sports. The first Test starts on January 14 with the second getting under way on January 22.