Zaheer, Harbhajan expected to return to Test squad

India are not going to wait for the Board President's XI game before selecting the squad for the first Test of the two-match series against Australia, beginning on October 1 in Mohali. The selectors will meet on Monday, 11 days before the first Test, and five days before the BP XI game.

The tour game against the Australians features Sreesanth and Cheteshwar Pujara, who would like to press claims for their selection, and Gautam Gambhir, who will be playing his first first-class game since a knee injury ended his Sri Lanka tour after the first Test, in July. The squad also includes Abhimanyu Mithun, who impressed the team management in Sri Lanka in the absence of Zaheer Khan and Sreesanth. Legspinner Piyush Chawla, too, would believe he is not too far from being in the frame, after Amit Mishra's dismal show in Sri Lanka. However, anything these players do in this game is going to influence selection only for the second Test.

The Test squad itself shouldn't pose too many problems. Yuvraj Singh, who lost his No. 6 slot to Suresh Raina during the Sri Lanka tour, should keep his place in the squad. Before his illness made way for Raina in the second Test, Yuvraj had done decently with a hundred in the tour game and a fifty in the first Test. M Vjay should be the other back-up batsman apart from the main six.

Zaheer Khan, fit now, should replace Munaf Patel from the squad that travelled to Sri Lanka. Harbhajan Singh should come back too after missing the third Test in Sri Lanka with fitness issues. If the selectors feel the need for a back-up wicketkeeper, Wriddhiman Saha, who was part of the touring party to Sri Lanka, should retain his place.

Likely India squad: MS Dhoni (capt & wk), Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar, VVS Laxman, Suresh Raina, Yuvraj Singh, M Vijay, Harbhajan Singh, Zaheer Khan, Ishant Sharma, Pragyan Ojha, Abhimanyu Mithun and Amit Mishra