Indian team for Dhaka Test to be named on Monday

The Indian side for the historic one-off Test against Bangladesh will be announced in Mumbai on Monday. The Test at Dhaka's Bangabandhu Stadium from November 10-14 will be the host nation's first since being granted Test status by the International Cricket Council in June. According to Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) executive secretary, Sharad Diwadkar, the India A and Board President's squads to play against Zimbabwe will also be chosen on the same day. The selectors thus have an excellent opportunity to take a comprehensive look at all the contenders for the forthcoming season in these three games.

The Zimbabwe team which lands in India on November 5, opens with an engagement against India A at Indore from November 8-10. This will be followed by another warm-up game against the Board President's XI at Faridabad from November 13-15.

The Indian team has been affected by injury worries in the run-up to the Test match. Rahul Dravid, chipped finger, and Anil Kumble, shoulder strain, have both missed the latter stages of the ongoing Sharjah campaign. Dravid is reportedly out of circulation for two weeks which casts some doubt on his chances for Dhaka. A third Karnataka player, Javagal Srinath had pulled out of the Irani Trophy game earlier this month citing a knee injury.

None of the players under investigation by the CBI for their alleged role in match-fixing are likely to be selected since the agency has postponed the submission of its report to next week. Mohd. Azharuddin, Nikhil Chopra and Nayan Mongia all played in India's last Test against South Africa at Bangalore in March. Azhar's 102 in this, his 99th Test, is likely to remain his last international innings if calculated leaks by the CBI hinting at his culpability are to be believed.

The Bangladesh team is in a state of disarray after a chastening tour of South Africa from October 12-23 where they lost all four games against provincial teams. Their batting was good enough to blast 249/6 runs off an innocuous Indian attack in a one-dayer during the Asia Cup in May. But Bangladesh are unlikely to possess the staying power to last the full distance in a Test match, having never played in a five day game at first class level. In any case with Zaheer Khan and Murali Kartik certainties for the tour, the Indian attack now bears a slightly more potent look to it. It is in the batting that a plethora of permutations are available at the selectors' disposal. Certainly the selection meeting on October 30 offers fertile ground for discussion, argument, even recrimination. Not an unhealthy sign for Indian cricket.