When the national selectors meet on Saturday to pick the team for the Australian tour, there aren't likely to be any surprises, going by the policy that they adopted for the West Indies series.
The two seasoned openers in Sehwag and Gambhir followed by Dravid, Tendulkar and Laxman pick themselves. Parthiv Patel, with his previous Australia experience, seems to be the most likely choice for Dhoni's back-up behind the stumps.
Presuming Zaheer Khan is fit, he will have the support of Ishant Sharma, Umesh Yadav and Praveen Kumar.
Umesh Yadav has been impressive but Jaydev Unadkat and Varun Aaron are distinctly lucky to get the Test cap ahead of Dhaval Kulkarni, who, at the age of 22, has picked up 122 first class wickets at 26.63 in Elite matches with eight five-wicket hauls.
Not many young fast bowlers have such an impressive record in recent times.
Aaron isn't quick by Australian standards, relies more on reverse swing and hasn't taken enough first class wickets. He has picked up only 26 wickets at an average of 41.50 and that too in the Plate division.
It will be a big risk to pick Aaron because Australia isn't the place to try out inexperienced bowlers.
Let's not try to terrorise Australian batsmen with pace unless a bowler bowls like Pat Cummins.
We need to pick fast bowlers who have the ability to hit the deck and move the ball at 135-140kmph or have a bowler like Praveen Kumar who shrewdly moves the ball prodigiously either way from different angles.
In batting, the selectors have to pick the third opener and fill two slots in the middle order. Logically it does seem likely that Ajinkya Rahane, having been picked for the West Indies series, may get the nod ahead of Abhinav Mukund.
Hard time
The selectors will have a hard time in picking two batsmen from the three available slots and while doing so their thrust shouldn't only be on future but ability to stand up to short stuff that will be hurled at the Indian batsmen all the time.
Yuvraj Singh, Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli will compete for the two slots. After injury during the England series, Yuvraj got the opportunity to show his mettle against the West Indies on sluggish pitches.
More than failure in two Tests, it was his technique of facing the short stuff against England and the West Indies that may prompt the selectors to pick him for the one-dayers only. If Yuvraj is uncomfortable against the short stuff, Virat Kohli too struggles against short stuff.
This was witnessed in the West Indies but Kohli has the advantage of age to improve. In contrast in-form Rohit Sharma handles short stuff with utmost ease. In fact he relishes it.
In the spin department both Ashwin and Pragyan Ojha pick themselves. Harbhajan has always struggled to bowl with the Kookaburra ball because of the flat seam. His record in Australia indicates he has never really excelled there. Experience is vital, but not when it continuously fails to produce desired results.
Now that Ashwin is showing cricketing intelligence in using varieties which are fetching him wickets, the selectors may find it difficult to accommodate Harbhajan Singh in the team.
With two selectors — Mohinder Amarnath and Krishnamachari Srikkanth — having first hand experience of the conditions in Australia, one expects sound cricketing logic and not compromises as the basis for selection.
