Zaheer Khan,Rohit Sharma in Test reckoning

35-year-old left-arm seamer,who last played for India in Dec last year,might get in on recent form.

Zaheer Khan is likely to make a return to the longer format of the game as selectors meet in Mumbai on Thursday to pick a 15-member squad for the two-Test series against West Indies.

According to a selector,the 35-year-old left-arm seamer,who last played for India in December last year,might get in on recent form. Zaheer was impressive in the four-day games he played against West Indies A and also the Ranji Trophy opener against Haryana at Lahli. He picked up five wickets in each of those games. With Ishant Sharmas poor form,the Sandeep Patil-led committee is likely to fall back on Zaheer.

Zaheer is ready to bowl long spells and his body is responding to it. Hes still Indias best seam bowler and should walk into the Test side, Mumbai coach Sulakshan Kulkarni told The Indian Express.

Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Umesh Yadav will partner the senior pro but the selectors havent decided on the fourth pacer. If they do,Ishant and Mohammed Shami are in the running. Zaheers Mumbai team mate Rohit Sharma too is likely to be picked as Sachin Tendulkars understudy. Rohit,who made his ODI debut in 2007 but is yet to play a Test,but may be given his time to prove himself in the middle order. For this home series,Ravindra Jadeja is likely to retain his place in the middle-order. If the selectors are to go for a back up opener,the choice is between Gautam Gambhir and Virender Sehwag. The latter,it is learnt,is in contention for the South Africa tour.

Guard of honour

The West Indies team will give Sachin Tendulkar a warm send off in the batsmans last Test in Mumbai. He Tendulkar has earned that respect. The way hes played and carried himself8230;Hes been a great ambassador of the game. Yes,we will give him a guard of honour in Mumbai, said West Indies captain Darren Sammy,on the eve of the sides tour game against UPCA XI.

West Indies tour starts with a three-day game against Uttar Pradesh Cricket Association UPCA XI at Jadavpur Universitys Salt Lake Campus Ground on Thursday. The visitors may be a tad under-cooked,because this tour was not in the ICCs Future Tours Programme FTP and was hastily arranged. And after a couple of Test matches and three ODIs in India they will go to New Zealand for another overseas affair.

The tour game against UPCA,a team that has Mohammad Kaif,Piyush Chawla captain and RP Singh in its ranks,is expected to give some idea about what lies ahead.