The national selectors will convene at the Cricket Centre here on Wednesday to name the squad for the Test series against Alastair Cook's Englishmen
Karnataka opener KL Rahul is a doubtful starter for the India-England Test series starting in Rajkot on November 9 as he has not yet recovered from his hamstring injury "hundred per cent".
Though Rahul has told his close associates that he is 95 per cent fit, the fitness report by Andrew Leipus, chief physiotherapist at the National Cricket Academy in Rahul's hometown Bengaluru will determine if the tall right-hander is good enough to play against England from the first Test.
The national selectors will convene at the Cricket Centre here on Wednesday to name the squad for the Test series against Alastair Cook's Englishmen.
Rahul suffered a hamstring during India's 500th Test in Kanpur and has since missed the second and third Tests against New Zealand. While he has been undergoing rehabilitation at NCA, he also missed Karnataka's latest round of Ranji Trophy at the BKC against Assam last week as he was not fully fit. It is unlikely that he will play the next round against Vidarbha in Vadodara from November 5.
While he may be racing against time to get fit in time for the first Test, everything will depend on the report that Leipus will submit to the Board before the selection.
Meanwhile, Ishant Sharma should return to the squad after missing the three Tests against New Zealand due to chikungunya. He even played in Delhi's last two rounds of Ranji Trophy bowling 62 overs in all against Karnataka and Odisha, proving that he was back to good health.
However, the extent to which Shikhar Dhawan's thumb injury has healed is yet to be ascertained. That leaves with Gautam Gambhir holding on to his Test place and should open with Murali Vijay in Rajkot, more so after the Delhi opener scored 50 in his comeback Test innings and followed it up with 147 against Odisha in his last visit to the crease.
Another fitness concern is that of Bhuvneshwar Kumar, who took five wickets in the first innings of the Kolkata Test but had to miss the next due to back injury. If he has recovered fully, he must be an automatic choice.
There should not be much change to the core group that blanked New Zealand 3-0 except for bringing in a couple of new faces and give them experience. Whether Jayant Yadav and Karun Nair, who were replacements for Ishant Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan, respectively, against New Zealand remain in the squad remains to be seen.
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