Sakshi who won bronze medal in Rio in the 58kg category will now fight in 60kg category while Sarita will take her place in the 58kg.
In a late development, the duo decided to change their weight categories by mutual consent.
"The world wrestling body has accepted their requests and Sakshi will now fight in a new weight category," said Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) assistant secretary Vinod Tomar.
In the absence of some of the leading grapplers such as Yogeshwar Dutt, Sushil Kumar and the famous Phogat sisters -- Geeta and Babita -- the onus will be on the likes of Sakshi, Olympian Sandeep Tomar and Bajrang Punia to help India improve on its last year's performance at the showpiece event.
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This is the first major competition for the Indian wrestlers this year and the country will field a strong 24- member team for the Championship with eight each in freestyle, women and Greco-Roman categories.
During the competition, 112 freestyle, 103 Greco-Roman and 83 female wrestlers will be vying for 24 gold and silver along with 48 bronze medals.
Some of the top grapplers from Iran, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Japan, Korea, China and Mongolia, besides India will be fighting for top honours at the KD Jadhav wrestling arena at the five-day long event, which will conclude on May 14.
After scripting history by becoming the first Indian woman wrestler to win an Olympic medal at Rio de Janeiro, she only took part at the Pro Wrestling League (PWL) earlier this year and fought just a couple of bouts.
However, she proved her mettle at the recent trials in Lucknow for the Asian Championship, outplaying Manju 10-0 in a technical knockout.
Other women wrestlers to look out for would be the lesser known Phogat sisters -- Vinesh and Ritu.
Vinesh had bagged a bronze in 53kg in the last edition, along with two more Haryana women wrestlers Anita (bronze in 63kg) and another Phogat, Priyanka (silver in 55kg).
Ritu, who had missed a medal by a whisker last year, would be hoping to make amends this year.
In men's freestyle, India would be hoping for Sandeep and Bajrang (65kg) to come good, while Jitender (75kg), who has been slowly emerging out of the shadows of two-time Olympic medallist Sushil and suspended Narsingh Yadav, would also fancy his chances.
Greco-Roman is not India's forte but a couple of them may just spring a surprise in their own backyard.
Iran have been the title-holders in both freestyle and Greco-Roman sections for the past two editions of the tournament in Qatar and Thailand.
Iranians also rank first in the all-time medal table with a total of 344 medals including 175 gold, 75 silver and 94 bronze. In the team category too, Iran stand on top the table with a total of 34 titles.
"The recent invitational event in Bulgaria went off well. Considering the standard of the tournament, three medals was a good effort. We expect the team to do well," Singh had said.
India team:
Men's freestyle: Sandeep Tomar (57kg), Harful (61kg), Bajrang (65kg), Vinod (70kg), Jitender (74kg), Somveer (86kg), Satyavrat Kadian (97kg), Sumit (125kg).
Greco Roam Style: Gyanender (59kg), Ravinder (66kg), Deepak (71kg), Gurpreet (75kg), Harpreet (80kg), Anil Kumar (85kg), Hardeep (98kg), Naveen (130kg).
Female Wrestling: Ritu (48kg), Pinki (53kg), Vines (55kg), Sakshi Malik (60kg), Sarita (58kg), Ritu (63kg), Divya Kakran (69kg), Jyoti (75kg).
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