Selection before BP XI game

The national selection committee will pick the India squad for the Test series against Australia on Monday five days ahead of Board Presidents XI fixture and 10 days before the first Test begins in Mohali. This means good performances during the Board Presidents XI versus Australia tour game,that begins in Chandigarh on Saturday,will not count as far as the first Test goes.

The question needs to be asked why the selectors are picking the squad before the tour game and not after.

The spot of a middle-order batsman in the squad is up for grabs with Yuvraj Singh looking out of sorts. The Board Presidents XI features players like Cheteshwar Pujara,Jaidev Unadkat,among others,who have consistently performed at the domestic level and are awaiting their big break.

Asked about this,the chief administrative officer of the BCCI Ratnakar Shetty said: Media may have 100 interpretations,but we have a plan and will follow that.