Sachin Tendulkar practices in the netsThis is going to be India’s final chance before the first test match. Sachin Tendulkar has been confirmed as captain in place of an injured Rahul Dravid nursing a strained calf. After coming close to a win against Sussex, India would love to win this match, or atleast perform even better than that match. With Sachin and Ganguly back in the team, I would expect them to go in and score heavily. I would also expect Zaheer Khan, Ishant Sharma and Ramesh Powar to get a match. India would have to test all these players to make a final judgement on the 11-man team for the first test.

I think, Gautam Gambhir and Ranadeb Bose will be the ones to get the cut. For Gambhir this would be plain injustice if he gets to sit out and Jaffer gets to play. This would be pure bias from the team management, but I am not going to be surprised as that’s how the Indian team selection almost always works. The board may pick the squad but it is the captain and coach/manager who decide on the the final playing XI. Ranadeb Bose’s exclusion would be self-inflicted as he did not show any evidence of his domestic form in conditions favoring him. It may be nerves. But at this level you are supposed to deal with it.

With both Tendulkar and Ganguly back in the squad, there will a lot more pressure on Yuvraj and Dhoni to perform. Another failure here and it is quite possible, that either one of these two may have to sit out. India have plenty of options in the batting department, for a change, with Laxman and Karthik. If Dhoni’s inclusion in the team is due to him being an explosive wicketkeeper-batsman, then we also have Dinesh Karthik, who I believe is a better Test batsman and a better wicketkeeper than Dhoni any given day. As for Yuvraj Singh, he really needs to make use of his talent as he is not growing any younger and if he needs to lead this team then he will have to show more application with the bat.

Anil Kumble could be rested to make way for Ramesh Powar. The chubby off-spinner could get an opportunity as Kumble really doesn’t need any experience in these conditions, this being his 3rd tour. Powar could spring a surprise or two, and even if he doesn’t, this would still give the team management a more clearer picture of the squad before the first test.

England Lions would be led by Andrew Strauss and he would be relishing the chance to have a go at the Indians. He would be looking at this match as an opportunity to stake his claim in the national side. Indians will also need to be wary of Stuart Broad, Chris Tremlett, Graham Onions (yeah, I know), Adil Rashid and Owais Shah. This is the England A side, and you can expect some really rock solid performances. However, I think that this match would actually be more beneficial as the Indians would know exactly where they stand before the first match starts.

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