World XI probables to be named today

Star batsmen Rahul Dravid, Virender Sehwag and Sachin Tendulkar along with leg-spin ace Anil Kumble should walk into both the ICC World XI p...

Star batsmen Rahul Dravid, Virender Sehwag and Sachin Tendulkar along with leg-spin ace Anil Kumble should walk into both the ICC World XI preliminary squads to take on World Champions Australia in October’s Johnnnie Walker Super Series.

Dravid, Sehwag and Tendulkar are occupying the third, fifth and 12th spots in batting in Tests and sixth, 13th and 25th positions in the one-day internationals respectively. Kumble has been ranked seventh.

However, it would be interesting to see whether Harbhajan Singh — whose action has come under ICC’s scrutiny for the second time in his career — makes the grade, along with Indian skipper Sourav Ganguly (currently under immense pressure following his recent poor form) and VVS Laxman.

As per the latest ICC rankings, Ganguly is 42nd in Tests and 35th in ODIs. Laxman is 28th in the Test rankings, but his entry appears very much on cards, especially with his great record against the Aussies. However, it still remains to be seen how many Indians make the initial cut.

Sunil Gavaskar would announce the initial list at the CCI here tomorrow. Gavaskar and selectors Mike Atherton, Richard Hadlee, Clive Lloyd, Jonty Rhodes and Aravinda de Silva would choose the players over a teleconference.

The initial squads of 30 would be reduced by the selectors later to 20 in early July and the final teams of 13 for the Super Test and 14 for the ODIs would be done in August.