Selectors unlikely to change successful unit

As the selectors prepare to pick the Indian team for their first assignment in 2009 - five ODIs and a Twenty20 in Sri Lanka - they know that they do not need to make many changes to an ODI outfit which has had a fine year under Mahendra Singh Dhoni.

They recovered from the occasional bump, in the Bangladesh tri-series and the Asia Cup, to win in Sri Lanka - after the Test team was mauled - and entertained thoughts of a 7-0 win over England before the terror attacks in Mumbai cut short the series. The highlight of the year, though, was the first ODI assignment of 2008 - the tri-series win in Australia.

The two big questions are whether the performers in the Ranji Trophy will get a look-in, and whether the selectors will look at this series as an opportunity to test the form and fitness of players who could be important for the full tour of New Zealand in March.

Even if the answers to both questions are affirmative, the winning combination will not be tampered with too much. India last played international cricket on December 23, so the chances of resting key players are remote.

If one eye is already on the New Zealand tour, it could be worth testing Sreesanth's form and fitness in Sri Lanka. He played only one Ranji match for Kerala, in which he took seven wickets against Jharkhand, and has, for all practical purposes, made himself available for national selection. A more likely alternative, though, is that the selectors will give Sreesanth a chance in the Duleep Trophy, where he will get between one and three games to prove himself.

One player who has made a strong case for himself by weight of his Ranji Trophy performances is Saurashtra's Ravindra Jadeja who was, by a fair margin, the allrounder of the season. He was the leading wicket-taker, along with Mumbai's Dhawal Kulkarni, with 42 wickets and he scored 739 runs at 67.18 to finish sixth on the top run-scorers' list. Being a left-arm spinner, Jadeja could take the spot of Pragyan Ojha, who last played in Sri Lanka and was among the reserves against England. Therefore Jadeja's inclusion in the squad to Sri Lanka will not be a surprise for he brings hefty hitting and a strong arm from the outfield to the table.

The other dispensable member from the last ODI squad could be Irfan Pathan but he got only one game after he was dropped following the Sri Lanka series. If Irfan is overlooked, either Kulkarni or L Balaji could make the cut. Balaji took 36 wickets at 17.50 apiece in his comeback season but there are many who believe he isn't at his best yet.

Virat Kohli, who was part of the squad against England but didn't play any of the games, is expected to keep his place. He held his own in his only five ODIs, which were incidentally in Sri Lanka last year.

The solitary Twenty20 does not require a separate squad.

Likely squad: Mahendra Singh Dhoni (capt & wk), Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Yuvraj Singh, Suresh Raina, Rohit Sharma, Yusuf Pathan, Virat Kohli, Zaheer Khan, Ishant Sharma, Munaf Patel, Harbhajan Singh, Ravindra Jadeja/Pragyan Ojha, Irfan Pathan/L Balaji/Dhawal Kulkarni.