Chopra spared the axe

He did not, however, go so far as to say whether Chopra would get the final nod over Yuvraj Singh, his original choice for opener. ‘‘Both will get to play in the four-day practice game”.

That should be a boost to a player whose confidence has been at a low since being dropped for the Third Test against Pakistan at Rawalpindi last April. That exercise, on grounds of poor form, was intended to facilitate Ganguly’s return to the side from injury; Ganguly’s stand-in, Yuvraj, had scored a century in the Second Test and ensured his retention.

Then, at the start of the pre-season camp, Ganguly asserted that Yuvraj would be considered as a Test opener. However, that thinking has been undermined by Yuvraj’s recent run of poor scores, accompanied by loss of form to the other opener, Virender Sehwag.

Seemingly out of favour with the senior side, Chopra then went through a spell of bad luck. On the recent African tour with the India ‘A’ team, he was troubled by a shoulder injury and missed most of the games.

His rehabilitation will be complete if, as Ganguly says, he plays the four-day warm-up match.

Though India had the upper hand in the Tests Down Under, Ganguly sought to play down the notion of his team being favourites for the upcoming version of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. ‘‘We did well in Australia and Pakistan and so we were dubbed favourites for the Asia Cup but we lost. It all depends on how we play against Australia.’’